Women's rugby won five straight games leading up to the Cup finals, but was denied the title in a 10-0 loss to top ranked Life University at the USA Rugby Women's Division I National 7's Championship Sunday morning in Cary, N.C.

With a tropical storm bearing down on the region, the semifinal game against Penn State was moved earlier in the day, making Saturday a short night, but the Lady Lions responded well with a 19-12 victory over the Nittany Lions.

Lindenwood started its run in the knockout stage of the tournament with a 17-5 quarterfinal win against the University of California – Davis late Saturday.  In a very physical match, the Lady Lions held the Aggies scoreless until the final moments.

Head Coach Billy Nicholas assessed the mindset of his team after the second day of the championship.

"(Saturday) was a long day playing from 10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. and then with the storm, the matches were moved even earlier on Sunday," he said.  "It's not ideal, but the girls are used to adapting to new conditions.  We will continue to focus on executing our structures properly no matter who the opponent or the time of day."

Lindenwood began competition Friday night in Pool C with a match against California State University, Chico, and came away with a strong 31-5 victory.  After a defensive start to the game, the Lady Lions broke through when McKenzie Hawkins scored after some Lindenwood pressure forced a turnover.  Moments later, Nene Persinger duplicated the effort with a steal and offload to AnnaKaren Pedraza who dotted down to give the Lady Lions 14-0 advantage at halftime.  Persinger barreled through several tackles from 10 meters out for a try early in the second half and Chico answered with its only points of the game before Hawkins made a nice pin and pass from Tiffany Person to loop her for another score.  Pedraza finished out the match with a quick tap up the middle.

Pool play continued Saturday morning with a 36-10 win against North Carolina and a hard fought 7-5 victory over Central Washington, the number one seed in the pool due to its second place finish nationally last season.  Davon Thomas scored the only try for Lindenwood against the Wildcats under the posts after Persinger broke free for a 40 meter run and was tackled from behind, but popped the ball off to an excellent support line.  The ensuing conversion proved to be the difference.

With the 5-1 record over the weekend, the Lady Lions improved to 18-4 in 7's play overall.  They will compete in the Collegiate Rugby Championships (CRC) June 2-3 in Philadelphia, Pa.