WISE – Behind five goals from sophomore Jesse French, UVa-Wise scored its second consecutive women's lacrosse victory to begin the season with a 15-10 win over Tusculum College at Carl Smith Stadium Wednesday.

Tusculum (1-2) enjoyed its only lead of the day in the opening moments when Madison Malone found the back of the net with 27:26 to play in the opening half.

UVa-Wise (2-0) would immediately take control of the game by scoring the next six goals to put the Cavaliers ahead 6-1.

During the stretch, junior Kristin Gobbi netted two of her three goals to boost Meghan Dennehy's squad.

The Pioneers finished the half with three of its final five goals to go to intermission trailing 8-4.

The Cavs put the game away with their play to start the second half. UVa-Wise scored five of the half's first seven goals to take a 13-6 advantage with 17:18 to play.

French was pivotal in the scoring spurt as she found the back of the net four times during the stretch.

Tusculum would put up a fight by scoring four consecutive goals, three coming by way of free position shots, to make the score 13-10 with 7:17 remaining.

UVa-Wise sealed the deal by working the clock and scoring two more goals in the final 5:03. McKayla Grasham scored her third goal of the contest with 5:03 to play before Sydney Steinberg scored off a French assist to provide the final margin of 15-10.

Three Cavaliers finished with six groundballs each as Hannah Marshall, Jessica Apgar and Charlotte Hess tied for team-high honors in the category while Rachel Cole led all players with 10 draw controls. Melanie Reilly finished with 13 saves in goal.

Next up, UVa-Wise will visit nationally ranked Regis on Feb. 26.