BOILING SPRINGS – Gardner-Webb held an 11-9 lead at halftime, but saw Radford open up with a big run in the second, falling by a 22-14 score to the Highlanders Wednesday night in women's lacrosse action.

The Runnin' Bulldogs (2-12, 0-4 Big South) took an early 2-0 lead on goals by freshman Hailey Maranto and senior Lindsey Lippert just 2:07 into the game, before Radford (5-8, 2-2 Big South) rallied to go up 5-3.

Gardner-Webb scored three unanswered to retake the lead, getting a pair of unassisted goals from Amanda Steinmuller to 6-5 at the 15:00 mark of the first half. Radford made a change in the net at that point, but the Runnin' Bulldogs were still able to find offensive success – scoring five more times before the break.

Gardner-Webb went up 9-8 on an Eilish Gately goal with 3:34 to play before halftime, and pushed the lead to 11-8 n goals from Lippert and Maranto with just over 90 seconds to go in the half. Radford standout Callie Bonnel scored her fifth goal of the half with 1:09 on the clock for the halftime margin.

The Highlanders came out cooking in the second half, scoring four consecutive goals to take the lead for good – going up 13-11 on a goal by Bonnel with 25:10 left in the game. That would grow to an 11-2 run that effectively put the game away, with junior Adrian Rius dominating the draw and scoring six goals in the final 26 minutes.

Radford held a 46-31 shooting edge, including a 23-13 mark in the second half. Rius' efforts on the draw helped the Highlanders control 12 in the second half and 21 for the game. The Highlanders also defended well on clears, contributing to 19 Gardner-Webb turnovers in the game.

Gardner-Webb got a hat trick from Gately and two goals each from Steinmuller, Lippert, Abby Hanscom and Maranto.

Bonnel was exceptional for the Highlanders, finishing with eight goals and five assists in the win. Rius had seven goals and 16 draw controls for the game. No other Radford player had more than two goals in the game.

The Runnin' Bulldogs hit the road for their next outing, traveling to face nationally-ranked High Point on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm. That action will stream live on the Big South Network.