EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 6 seed Rutgers women's lacrosse (8-10, 1-5) dropped its matchup with No. 2 seed Penn State (11-6, 4-2), 17-8, in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on Thursday night in Evanston, Illinois. In a game marred with several weather delays, the Scarlet Knights drew even with the Nittany Lions in the second half before PSU pulled away for the win.
 
Graduate student Cassidy Spilis finished with two goals, two caused turnovers and a team-high seven draw controls – becoming the program's all-time leader in career draw controls with 313. In 81 collegiate games, Spilis has produced 280 points, 266 goals, 102 caused turnovers and 313 draw controls "On the Banks."
 
Junior Michelle Warren pitched in two goals, while junior Alexa Corbin, sophomore Ava Chiarella and rookie Payton Tini all added scores. Sophomore Lily Dixon dished out two assists. Senior goalkeeper Sophia Cardello stopped a game-high 11 shots.
 
Penn State used a 33-23 shot advantage and won the 50-50 battle, 17-10, to secure the victory. Three Nittany Lions – Kayla Abernathy, Gretchen Gilmore and Lauren Saltz – finished with hat tricks.
 
After the start was delayed due to weather, Penn State opened the game with three consecutive goals before Rutgers countered with a 4-0 scoring run that bridged two quarters of play. Corbin was the first to score during the streak, as her unassisted goal made it 3-1 at the end of the first 15 minutes of action.
 
Back-to-back goals from Tini and Chiarella followed, with Chiarella's score off a pass from Dixon tying the game at 3-3 with 10:58 left in the second quarter. RU then found its first lead of the night thanks to a forced turnover, which led to a goal from Goldrick. Goldrick's score off the pass from Dixon made it 4-3 with 10:41 left in the half.
 
Penn State scored back-to-back goals in the next three minutes of action before play was once again delayed due to lightning with 7:37 left before halftime. Play resumed about 30 minutes later, when Warren scored off a fast-break pass from graduate student Jessica Beneducci to tie the game once again at 5-5. However, Penn State netted two consecutive goals to enter the locker room with a 7-5 lead.
 
RU continued to attack out of the short midpoint, as Spilis netted her first of the game and 73^rd of the season to make it 7-6 with 11:48 on the clock in the third quarter. The Nittany Lions responded with three consecutive goals to force a Rutgers' timeout at the 8:59 mark in the period. PSU continued to take control as it closed the third quarter with a 15-7 lead. Spilis scored her second out of the fourth-quarter break, but Penn State held on for the semifinal win.