BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb won their third straight game with a victory over Detroit Mercy on Sunday behind five points from both Lauren Deaver and Talen Francis.

The game got out to a hot start with there being a combined five goals in a little over four minutes of action between the two teams. Detroit Mercy led 3-2 after this scoring stretch.

The Runnin' Bulldogs answered quickly with a 6-0 run over the next ten minutes to give them a five-goal lead. After a goal by Tori Birks at the 23:29 mark in the first half, Gardner-Webb got the lead and never gave it up leading for the remaining 53 minutes of the game.

Going into halftime, Gardner-Webb's Jessica Vetter scored a last-second goal off an assist from Tori Birks to give them an 11-4 lead.

In the second half between the 27:00 mark and the 12:43 mark, there was a 7-0 run by the Runnin' Bulldogs that saw Francis score the first three goals of the scoring stretch.  

Gardner-Webb got a big advantage in the game with draw controls, beating the Titans 18-11 in this category. Hannah Mitchell led both teams with five draw controls on the day.

Gardner-Webb was able to double Detroit Mercy in groundballs, outgaining them 24-11.

Katie Sylvester had an outstanding performance in goal, saving ten shots while only allowing six goals in her 43 minutes of action.

Francis led the team in scoring with four goals. Jada Preston scored three. Scoring two goals were Eilish Gately, Birks, and Liz Antoshak. Em Dyment, Lauren Deaver, Vetter, Hannah Smith, Hailey Maranto, Gabby Zerna, and Megan Trout.

Ball movement was big in Gardner-Webb's attack as nine of the twenty goals were from assists. Lauren Deaver led the team with four assists. Birks contributed two assists. Francis, Gately, and Maranto had one assist each.

The win puts Gardner-Webb at 5-3 on the season, winning their third straight game.

Next for the team is the start of a three-game nonconference road trip. The first game is in Richmond, Virginia against VCU on March 11^th. The first draw is scheduled for 4:00 pm and the game will stream live on ESPN+.