Lindenwood University women defeated Life University 39-17 today in the opening of the women's D1 Elite (D1A) competition.

The teams were close into the second half, with Lindenwood holding a relatively slim 22-10 lead, but three tries in the middle part of the second half blew the doors off the game. This was to be expected given that Lindenwood has had the measure of Life, in 15s at least, the past few years. Add to that the fact that Lindenwood is far more experienced than Life at present, and the game was played in St. Charles, Mo., you'd have to expect Lindenwood to win.

Given all that, for Life to score 17 points and be in with a shout relatively late in the game is something to build on.

"It was a good start to the season today," said Lindenwood Head Coach Billy Nicholas. "It was great to see the teams be able to get a run around against someone other than ourselves. We feel like we set a good foundation to start off the year and will get the opportunity to grow in a handful of areas moving forward."

Life always gives Lindenwood their most competitive matches, and Nicholas said this was a tough start as well. With a JV game there too both sides saw over 40 players take the field.

"There were a lot of positive moments in [the JV match] that speak to the kind of skill within that group," said Nicholas. "It’ll be nice to continue to work with them and see them come together and work as a unit. They set the tone on the day. 

"In the Varsity match if felt like a tight first half, we just didn’t have much possession, when we did we were successful so that’ll be something we chat about this week. What was nice to see at half was just how composed this group was, the calm chat, the player led adjustments, I’m proud at how far they’ve come. They earned that win today together."