A strong fourth quarter turned a close game into a convincing 16-7 College of Wooster women's lacrosse win over Whitman College on Tuesday afternoon at Southwestern University's campus in Georgetown, Texas.

Wooster outscored Whitman 8-1 in the fourth quarter to improve to 7-0 for the first time since 2022. The seven-goal swing in the fourth followed Whitman (1-4) getting within 8-6 when Sarah Hawkins found the back of the net with 24 seconds left in the third period.

Junior Audrey Richardson stopped Hawkins' bid at a third goal with one of her season-high 11 saves early in the fourth. Wooster had a good look with a free-position shot, but could not convert with about 13:30 to play. First-year Kylie MacMillan quickly got possession back for Wooster with a caused turnover-to-groundball sequence. After earning another free position attempt, senior Lizzie Hardy pumped in her second of five goals to up Wooster's lead to three.

A few seconds is all it took for Wooster's lead to grow to four. Senior Sidney O'Rourke tracked down one of Wooster's seven fourth-quarter draw controls before sophomore Rowan Pilon connected with senior Priya Nehria for a goal. Hardy, senior Sophia Mellis, Nehria, and sophomore Mizan Jacobs scored Wooster's next four goals, while Hardy hit on back-to-back scores late in the fourth.

Nehria and senior Brynne Snaguski were at the forefront of giving Wooster the lead, as they assisted and scored on Wooster's first two goals. Snaguski's tied Tuesday's contest at one early, then Nehria's with 10:50 left in the opening period gave Wooster the lead for good.

Richardson was tested early, denying the Blues three times in the opening 2:48. The junior made three saves in each of the first three periods and two in the fourth. Wooster's defense settled in late, allowing just four shots in the fourth stanza.

Hardy's game-high five goals were followed by Snaguski's four. Snaguski led all players with six points, thanks to passing out two of Wooster's eight assists. Pilon was the assister on half of Wooster's eight helpers. Nehria finished with a hat trick to round out the leading trio of scorers for the Scots.

In the draw, Hardy and Jacobs won nine of Wooster's 14. Defensively, Richardson scooped up a team-high of four groundballs to go with the season-high in saves. MacMillan was marked with three caused turnovers on the stat sheet.

Hawkins and Lola McConaghy had two goals each for Whitman. Serafin Miller won seven of the Blues' 10 draw controls. Teagan Huff was the leading defender with three caused turnovers.

Wooster outshot Whitman 32-27. The Blues had four more groundballs than the Scots at 22-18, but Wooster did get the edge in draw controls, 14-10.

Next, Wooster shoots for its first 8-0 start since 2019. Standing in the way of the Scots accomplishing that is the University of Massachusetts Boston (0-5). Opening draw from Southwestern on Thursday, March 19 is set for 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT.