A strong second half helped the Culver-Stockton women's lacrosse team defeat the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy (UHSP) 15-5 and earn the fifth seed in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament, which begins Saturday.

The Wildcats and Eutectics each entered Wednesday's game with 3-4 conference marks. The victory will send C-SC to fourth-seeded Saint Ambrose this Saturday, while UHSP will play at third-seeded Ottawa University.

After a low-scoring first half that ended with the Wildcats leading 4-3, C-SC outscored the visitors 11-2 in the second half, posting a 5-1 advantage in the third quarter and 6-1 edge in the fourth quarter.

Wildcat leading scorer Kaelin Quarles was held scoreless in the first half; however, she returned for the second half with a vengeance netting all five of her goals and both assists in the final 30 minutes.

Second-leading scorer Addison Holm also scored five goals in the match with three of her five tallies occurring in the first half.

The Eutectics sandwiched three unanswered goals around a pair of Holm tallies to lead 3-2 after the first quarter. However, the Wildcat defense stiffened and held the visitors scoreless in the second quarter while Kaleigh Poe and Holm garnered goals to give C-SC a one goal advantage at halftime.

Quarles came out fast to start the third quarter, scoring two quick goals in the first six minutes of the period to make it 6-3. 

The score stayed that way until the 3:36 mark when the Eutectics registered their only goal of the period.

However, Quarles quickly erased any momentum UHSP thought they had by recording two goals in an 18-second span with under two minutes remaining. She scored with 1:54 to play in the period, and then added another with 1:36 to play.

Poe scored with 22 seconds left int he third to giveth Wildcats a 9-4 lead entering the final 15 minutes of action.

C-SC scored the first four goals of the fourth quarter, two from Holm and one each from Quarles and Rylie Boyce before the Eutectics broke the string.

Poe finished with four goals and an assist for five total points to complement Quarles and Holm's day. 

After a shaky first quarter, C-SC goalkeeper Jillian Vervynck settled in and made eight saves on 13 shots on goal by UHSP. She made four saves in each half to earn the victory. 

C-SC took advantage of free position shots, converting 6 of 7, while UHSP was just 1-for-3 in the game. The Wildcats outshot the Eutectics 26-15 and had a 37-36 edge in ground balls. C-SC was 21-for-27 on clears while UHSP was 17-for-24.