Women's rugby lived up to its national number one ranking with a 69-12 victory over Central Washington University (CWU) Saturday in Ellensburg, Washington. 

The Lions took control of the match early and built a 34-5 lead by halftime on tries from McKenna Strong, Fane Haungatau, Jessica Laughlin, and Caring De Freitas.  Natalie Gray booted a couple of conversions to help the Lindenwood cause.

It was more of the same in the second half and the Lions added another 35 points to the ledger while only yielding seven for the final margin.

Head Coach Billy Nicholas was grateful for the opportunity to compete.

"We followed a very stringent three-test protocol per student-athlete to be able to travel to Washington," he reported.  "So, we were glad all the tests came back negative and were able to participate. After playing Life in back-to-back matches, we were excited travel and play a different team and test ourselves in that capacity. 

"With away matches at Life, at CWU, and at BYU, this is quite an away match tour, so the ability to host some playoffs at home has been a big motivating factor for us.  Central Washington has a young and talented group of student-athletes and I have a lot of respect for their coaching staff and the rest of the D1 Elite coaches.  I know each match for us will be a new challenge. 

"I'm just grateful that we have the ability to have regular practice sessions, and to be able to participate in matches.  There are a lot of things to manage, but appreciation of the ability to participate is something I hope is not lost for anyone in our program."

Women's rugby travels to Provo, Utah to face Brigham Young University (BYU) on March 27.  The opening kickoff is scheduled for 10 a.m.