CINCINNATI, Ohio - The top-seeded University of Denver women's lacrosse team dominated fourth-seed Villanova in the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinal with six players with multi-goal games and dominated the draw circle to earn a 19-7 win on Thursday afternoon at Corcoran Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

The Pioneers jumped out to an early lead, outscoring the Wildcats 7-1 in the first quarter. Headlined by Abby Jenkins starting the game 4-for-4 on the draw, Dineen scored back to back goals to start the 6-0 run for the Pioneers. Julia Gilbert poured it on for DU with a first-half hat trick, alongside goals by Caroline Colimore, Sloane Kipp, Jane Earley and Olivia Penoyer, to take a 12-3 lead into halftime. 

Villanova attempted a comeback in the second half of play, but the Pios were able to respond to all the Wildcats' goals in the third. The Pioneers scored five unanswered goals in the second half of play and and allowed just three goals. Emelia Bohi made back-to-back saves, five seconds apart with just under three minutes remaining in the game to keep the clock running in the fourth.

KEY PERFORMANCES:
Gilbert and Kipp led the Pioneers offensively with five goals apiece. This marks Gilbert's second five goal game of the season, and the fist of Kipp's career. Dineen recorded a hat trick, Earley and Colimore both put up a pair of goals. Penoyer had a career-high day, with two goals and eight assists, the most helpers in a single game in her career, and tied for second-most assists and fourth most points by a Pioneer in  single game.

In the circle, McPherson set a career-high 11 draw wins, tied for the seventh most in a single game for Denver, while Abby Jenkins recorded nine. 

On the defensive end, Colimore, McPherson and Bohi each caused a pair of turnovers. McPherson picked up a trio of groundballs while Bohi picked up a pair. 


NOTES:

• Gilbert extended her team-high point streak to 39 games, posting 128 points on 110 goals and 18 assists in that span.
• Sloane Kipp recorded a career-high five goals.
• Trinity McPherson won a career-high 11 draws, tied for the 7th most by a Pioneer in a single game. 
• Penoyer moves solely into fourth all-time in Denver's record books for most assists in a single season at 48, her eight assists are tied for the second-most helpers in a single game and 10 points are tied for fourth most. 
• Her eight assists are the most ever recorded in a Big East tournament game and she tied for the most points in a half and in a single tournament game.
• The Pioneers 12 assists are the most by a single team in the Big East tournament.
• Denver outshot Villanova 44-20 and 30-14 on goal.

UP NEXT:
The Pioneers will faceoff against the winner of No. 3 UConn/ No. 4 Georgetown on Saturday at 10 a.m. MT/12 p.m. ET on FS2.

TICKETS:
Single game tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.

DENVER'S HOME FOR COLLEGE SPORTS
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Women's Lacrosse on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_WLAX on Twitter
Follow @DenverPioneers and @DU_WLAX on Instagram