INDIANAPOLIS – The UIndy women's lacrosse team cruised to a convincing 18-4 win against Alabama-Huntsville Saturday at Key Stadium. The Greyhounds (4-1) used an all-around effort to hand the visiting Chargers their first loss of the season.
 
UAH came into the day with a spotless 5-0 mark, but the Greyhounds came out swinging, finding the back of the net six times in the first seven minutes to put the Chargers on their heels early. UIndy would go on the score nine unanswered tallies and lead 12-1 at the half.
 
"We emphasized all week about coming out strong," said Head Coach Jillian Howley, "because we went slow out of the gate in both games last weekend (at Mercy and at St.Thomas Aquinas). We went down early in both of the games, especially at Mercy where we went down 6-0. We managed to crawl back and got it within 10-7, but you just can't start a game like that. But now to be on the opposite end, it's nice."
 
The Greyhounds spread the wealth offensively, with seven players notching at least one point. Junior Anna Rulapaugh led the way with nine points, including a career-high six goals on seven shots. Meanwhile, senior Chalane Morrison amassed four goals and eight draw controls, sophomore Hana Priddy scored four goals on as many shots and sophomore Laura McKee had a game-high five ground balls.
 
Defensively, sophomore goalie Lauren Granville earned five saves while surrendering just two goals in 44 minutes on the way to earning the win in her first start as a Greyhound.
 
"Lauren did very, very well in net today," Howley noted, "and she did a great job of getting the ball out quickly.
 
"But Genevieve Jablonski is the backbone of our defense. She doesn't come up in the stats often but she's what makes that defense work. She's a fantastic leader, and I think to see that in someone who's only a sophomore, it makes for a bright future for us on the defensive end the next few years."
 
The Hounds are now 2-0 all-time versus UAH, who, like UIndy, is a second-year program. The Hounds beat the Chargers by a modest 14-10 final margin at UAH last season, but upped the deficit significantly in this year's victory.
 
"I think it says a lot about the program," said Howley. "When you look at how we competed against this team last year to how we competed against them this year, it just shows our growth as a second-year program."
 
UIndy's schedule this month ramps up with a pair of tough road games coming up. The Greyhounds will travel to Shepherd Friday, March 10 and No. 20 Pace on Tuesday, March 14 before hosting Wheeling Jesuit Sunday, March 19 in their next home game.