Lindenwood beat Central Washington and BYU beat Grand Canyon in the latest action in D1 Elite Women.
With the win, Lindenwood joins CWU and Life with two wins, but Lindenwood has no losses and has defeated both of those other two-win teams. BYU improved to 1-1.
It was a solid showing by Central despite the loss. "What a match," CWU Head Coach Matt Ramirez said. "The response our team had, in the fifth week of being assembled, against a team like that was exactly what we asked of them. We've been working to build a strong bench, and to see the work of our finishers today gave everyone the right picture. To battle back in the second half was great."
Several Wildcats stood up well and came back from a 15-0 deficit with two tries from Jessica Postle and a conversion from Kai Brandt-Templeton to make it 15-12. That score held for a while thanks in large part to a tenacious defensive effort from Central Washington, led by flanker Tessa Hann.
But Lindenwood responded well to run in two tries to seal the game—Madison Jersey broke free out wide for her second breakaway try of the day. As time wound down, Amy Brice scored her second of the day, capping off a long period of phases. Tanaka Kanyepi also scored for Lindenwood.
This was still a good performance for CWU as Lindenwood ran out a top-flight starting 15.
"We had a strong side out, which speaks volumes for CWU and how tough they are this season," said Lindenwood Head Coach Trevor Locke. "They came out and physically matched us for the full 80 and even though we enjoyed a majority of possession, they made it tough for us to transfer into points. I was proud of our effort throughout, especially on defense though. When the game was tight around the 65th minute, the team dug in and embraced the contest which says a lot about them as players."