Women's rugby earned an impressive D1 Elite Conference win 39-5 over Central Washington Saturday at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Missouri.
 
In an extremely physical match that resulted in several injuries, Samantha Tancredi gave the Lions a lead when she broke free on a 60-meter run.  McKenzie Hawkins added the conversion for a 7-0 score.  The advantage increased when Lindenwood executed a nifty hands-out wide for senior Tiffany Person who finished a try in the corner.  Despite the sharp angle, McKenzie slotted the uprights for a 14-0 lead.  Her excellent foot skills continued when she booted a cross-field kick that Casey Karl dotted down.  Another McKenzie conversion made it 21-0, but the Wildcats broke the shutout late in the half for a 21-5 score at the break.
 
Lightning delayed the start of the second half, but when the match resumed, the Lions continued to play well, with all 23 rostered players seeing time on the pitch.  Lindenwood continued to stress the Central Washington defense, which led to another 18 unanswered points.  Hawkins scored the first three on a penalty kick, and then Meg Gold went back-to-back before Nika Paogofie-Buyten scored the final try of the game. 
 
Head Coach Billy Nicholas was happy with the performance.
 
""Today was a great overall team win and our senior leaders really stepped up under pressure and helped keep everyone on the same page," he said.  "Defensively, I was very impressed by freshman Aniya Matina in her first XV's match with us, and senior Annakaren Pedraza who was all over the pitch. We did some good things in attack despite the weather, but there are still plenty of things to sharpen the next few weeks before the playoffs.  A big thank you goes out to the Lindenwood band and the Lionettes for supporting our program today!"
 
The match was also the first of two "senior honors" matches with the second scheduled for March 30 at home.  With the victory, Lindenwood improved to 7-0 overall and extended a home unbeaten streak for the first XV squad that has been running for four years.
 
Lindenwood will switch gears with a trip to Las Vegas for the Vegas Sevens Tournament February 28 to March 2. 
 
Match Scoring Lindenwood vs. Central Washington 
Samantha Tancredi - Try  5 
McKenzie Hawkins 2 - Conversion 
Tiffany Person - 5 - try 
McKenzie Hawkins 2 - conversion 
Casey Karl 5 - try 
McKenzie Hawkins 2 - conversion 
CWU - 5 

Halftime 

McKenzie Hawkins -3 - Penalty Kick
Meg Gold-5 - try 
Meg Gold -5 - try 
Nika Paogofie-Buyten - 5 - try