Lindenwood University women reeled off two victories in Las Vegas, giving the rest of the women's college rugby community something to consider.

Playing a very good BYU team that was in the National DI Elite Final last year, Lindenwood took care of the Cougars 39-5. 

"For us I was looking forward to seeing how our attack and defensives systems were going to unfold," said Lindenwood Head Coach Billy Nicholas. "We'd tweaked them a little bit since the fall, and this was our first game of the spring season. To have that result was one we were excited about."

The Lions then went on to beat the Dark 'n' Stormy Misfits 43-12, but it was the BYU result most will notice. Asked who he thought led the effort, Nicholas demurred, saying instead it was a team effort.

For BYU Head Coach Tom Waqa, the run-out was an important one. BYU lost to Lindenwood but beat a Southern California select team 29-17.

"We are happy to invest in that tournament, to guage where we are," said Waqa. "Lindenwood had a strong showing against us. They were solid across the board from number 1 to 23. The skill set, conditioning, and strength they posses is above most of the college teams I know. That's one of the top teams bar Penn State competing at DI Elite level. So we found ourselves having to really work on our basics. We had to adjust against SoCal - still lots improvements needed if we are to go far in playoffs."

Flyhalf Nicole McCullough, prop Rebekah Hebdon, and No. 8 Grace Taito had good moments for the Cougars.

Looking ahead, Lindenwood will take a mixed roster to Ireland, where they will play Old Belvedere women's team and Highfield, and potentially one more opponent on a Spring Break tour next week. After that it's the Glendale Raptors, and suddenly they're into 15s and 7s championship time. 

Next up for BYU is Utah Valley University on Saturday, then New Mexico and then Southern Utah. April 8 they take on mighty Central Washington. 

After that it will be an intense national Round of 16 and Round of 8 for the top DI teams in the country. Certainly BYU and Lindenwood, along with Penn State, Life, and possibly the likes of Stanford, UC Davis, Virginia, and others will compete.