NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Piedmont 14, UMass Dartmouth 12
Records: Piedmont, 5-4 (2-0 USA South); UMass Dartmouth, 3-3

PUERTO RICO - Piedmont women's lacrosse continued its winning ways surviving a close contest with a 14-12 win over UMass Dartmouth Tuesday. The Lions have now won four in a row. 

It was an evenly matched contest with the two tied at three but Piedmont used three unanswered goals to take a 6-3 lead and led 7-4 after the first. From there, it was a defensive battle with neither team scoring more than three in a period. 

In the second, the Corsairs snuck back with two straight from Jenny Lipanovich but Piedmont answered with their own from Aly Reece and Clara Welch to take a 9-6 lead into the break. 

The Corsairs tied the contest in the third quarter at 9-9 but Piedmont scored five straight across the third and fourth quarters to build a 14-9 lead that was enough to withstand three late goals by UMass Dartmouth including two in the final minute of play. 

Up next, the Lions will return home for senior day on Saturday taking on Southern Virginia at 11 a.m.

TURNING POINT:
- A strong start for the Lions was enough to be the difference in this one as Piedmont scored seven goals in the opening period. 

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- Aly Reece led Piedmont with three goals scored including the first of the game inside the first 30 seconds of play. 
- Ava Trankina added five assists in the game with two goals to lead the team in points with seven. 

HOW TO FOLLOW:
- To stay up to date on all information regarding Piedmont University Athletics, be sure to visit PiedmontLions.com and connect with the Green and Gold on social media. Follow the Lions on X @PiedmontLions, Instagram: @PiedmontLions, and Facebook.