Salisbury, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Lacrosse Team (10-6, 7-1) closed out the regular season with a 15-9 win over Catawba (7-9, 4-4) Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference action at Shuford Stadium.

The Bears, who claimed sole possession of second place in the league standings, were led by sophomore defender Emily Kessler (Syracuse, N.Y.) and freshman attacker Gabby Sousa (Delran, N.J.) with three goals each in the victory.

Catawba's Alyssa Corace (Mahopac, N.Y.) and Meredith Jones (Barnesville, Md.) scored three goals each but the Indians couldn't overcome an 11-3 deficit at halftime.

The Indians tried to rally with four straight goals in the second half to cut the margin to 12-7 but the Bears' lead was too great to overcome.  Lenoir-Rhyne senior midfielder Claire Wach (Cary, N.C.) added two goals and three assists.

Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore attacker Torrey Schwitkis (San Diego, Calif.) also scored twice to give her a team-leading 40 goals on the season.

The Bears held the advantage in shots taken (32-27) while sophomore Ines Flueck (Coppell, Texas) stopped 16 shots on the day and earned the victory in goal.  Catawba's goalkeeper, Bethany Davis (Salisbury, Md.), suffered the loss despite making 11 saves against Lenoir-Rhyne.

In the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship, second-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne will take on the winner of third-seeded Wingate and sixth-seeded Catawba in the semifinals on the campus of Queens University in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday at 6:30 p.m.