KENT, Ohio – Abby Hanscom and Talen Francis each scored four goals as the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes, 20-12, on Friday afternoon.

It took less than 90 seconds for the Runnin' Bulldogs to score as Jada Preston gave Gardner-Webb the early lead before Kent State answered 43 seconds later.

Gardner-Webb (5-4) scored three unanswered goals in a span of 1:27 starting with Tori Birks' goal just 2:20 into the contest. Hanscom and Alissa Brown also scored, and Preston played a role – assisting in both – to have a hand in three of GWU's first four goals.

With a 4-1 lead, Kent State pulled within two goals, 5-3, before the Runnin' Bulldogs doubled their lead thanks to a free position goal from Birks and a goal by Lauren Deaver with 14:22 remaining.

Kent State (0-9) scored its final goal of the first half with 13:27 remaining, and the Runnin' Bulldogs finished the first 30 minutes on a 5-0 run. Liz Antoshak's goal started the run, while Hanscom scored a pair of goals that were sandwiched between two scores by Francis.

At the half, Gardner-Webb led, 12-4.

The Runnin' Bulldogs and Golden Flashes combined for 16 goals in the second half with each team scoring eight.

Kent State opened the final 30 minutes by scoring three consecutive goals before Jessica Vetter answered with a goal off a free position shot, and less than a minute later, Francis scored to make it 14-7 in favor of the 'Dogs.

The Golden Flashes got within six, 14-8, with 23:10 to go in the contest, but a 6-2 Gardner-Webb run extended the Runnin' Bulldogs' lead to double-digits. Six different players accounted for GWU's goals during the run with Hannah Smith officially giving the Runnin' Bulldogs a 20-10 lead with 8:32 to go.

Kent State scored the final two goals of the contest, but GWU earned the victory, 20-12.

Gardner-Webb took 35 shots with an impressive 32 being on goal. The Golden Flashes had 31 chances to score but put only 20 on goal. Kent State collected 17 ground balls compared to 13 for Gardner-Webb.

Francis and Hanscom led the Runnin' Bulldogs with four goals each, while Kent State's Megan Kozar had a team-high four goals for the home team.

Gardner-Webb will continue its three-game road trip with a contest at Cincinnati on Sunday, March 24 at 12 p.m. before heading to Radford for a Big South Conference match on Saturday, March 30.