Feb. 25, 2006

Athens, Ohio - Duquesne University's women's lacrosse team returned to their winning ways via a powerful 12-5 victory over Ohio University Saturday afternoon at the Bobcats' Peggy Pruitt Field. Junior Courtney Tamasitis (Boyertown, Pa. / Boyertown) paced seven DU scorers with three goals while freshman Kathleen McNish (Caldwell, N.J. / James Caldwell) had a game-high six points via two goals and four assists, her first points as a collegiate player.

Host Ohio (0-2), which had lost their season opener to nationally-ranked Maryland last weekend, took an early 2-0 lead as Shannon Hadaway and Kari Fasick hit shots past DU senior goalie Meredith Norris (Morgantown, W.V. / Morgantown) in the first 5½ minutes of play. Norris held the Bobcats silent the rest of the half while her teammates tallied eight straight goals for an 8-2 Duquesne lead at the break.

McNish netted her two goals at the start of the second half to give the Red and Blue a 10-2 edge with just over 22 minutes to play. Kiersten McLouth scored the first of her two goals to cut the deficit to seven, 10-3, at 9:04 of the period. DU and Ohio each scored twice through the remainder of play for the final mark of 12-5.

Seniors Kelly Mulford (Lutherville, Md. / Maryvale Prep), who leads McNish and the Dukes with seven points this season, and Caroline Gallagher (West Chester, Pa. / Henderson) also scored two goals. Norris was credited with three saves while senior Alison Smith (BelAir, Md. / C. Milton Wright) and McNish each picked up five ground balls for the Dukes, who raised their early 2006 record to 2-1.

Ohio's Jen Heup recorded 15 saves as Duquesne outshot the Bobcats, 34-11. The Dukes had 27 ground balls to the Bobcats' 17 and committed nine fewer turnovers (27-18).

Duquesne's next outing is in Durham, North Carolina against the 3-0 Duke Blue Devils on Saturday, March 4, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. Duke entered this year ranked at number 2 in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) preseason poll.