Gettysburg, Pa. - No. 4 Gettysburg College outscored Denison University 8-0 in the second and third quarters on Saturday to pull away with a 17-9 victory over the Big Red in the third round of the NCAA women's lacrosse championships. 
 
 The Bullets (18-3), who won their 12th consecutive game while improving to 12-1 at home this spring, with the program's 40th all-time NCAA Tournament victory, will face No. 5 Washington and Lee University (19-2) in a quarterfinal matchup on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Generals defeated No. 12 Wesleyan University (14-5) in Saturday's other third-round contest at Gettysburg.
 
Sophomores Jordan Basso (Rye, N.Y./Rye) and Jenna King (Millersville, Md./Severna Park) combined for 10 points to pace Gettysburg's attack, with Basso scoring a game-high five goals and King netting two goals and leading all players with three assists.
 
Basso leads the Bullets with 98 points and 62 goals this season, while King's 42 assists are tops on the squad.
 
Junior Essie Pasternak (Short Hills, N.J./Blair Academy) enjoyed a solid all-around game, leading all players with four groundballs and four caused turnovers while collecting two draw controls. 
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Gill Cortese (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) notched her 10th win of the season by making three saves on the day.
 
Gettysburg jumped out to a 3-0 advantage over the first 5:41 of Saturday's third-round matchup, with sophomore Regan Rightmire (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown STEM Academy) opening the scoring, followed by a pair of Basso tallies.
 
The Big Red (12-7), who are receiving votes in the latest IL Women/IWLCA Poll, responded with the next two goals to pull to within 3-2 at the 3:51 mark of the opening quarter.
 
Both teams found the back of the net in the final three minutes to put Gettysburg's lead at 4-3 after the first 15 minutes of action.
 
Junior Katie Fullowan (Lebanon, N.J./North Hunterdon) scored just over three and a half minutes into the second stanza to ignite a run of eight straight Gettysburg goals that would swell the Bullets' lead to 12-3 at the end of three quarters.
 
Basso scored three goals, and freshman Emily Crane (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair) netted a pair of goals in the second quarter as Gettysburg built a 10-3 lead at halftime.
 
Junior Gabi Connor (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial) and freshman Sophie Smith (Great Falls, Va./Langley) netted the only markers of the third quarter to stretch the Bullets' cushion to nine goals at 12-3.
 
Denison started the fourth period with a 5-1 run to cut its deficit to 13-8 with 6:42 remaining. However, Gettysburg dashed any hopes of a comeback with the next four goals as Fullowan and King both scored twice in the late run that gave the hosts an insurmountable 17-8 lead with 1:14 remaining.
 
Fullowan finished the contest with three goals and added a team-leading five draw controls, while Crane added two goals and a pair of draw controls.
 
Senior Maddi Seibel (Newtown, Pa./Pennington School) was the fifth Gettysburg player to enjoy a multi-point performance with a goal and an assist.
 
Sophomore Caroline Sullivan (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) added three groundballs and one caused turnovers, while freshman Lily Macatee (Street, Md./North Hartford) contributed four draw controls in the victory.
 
Gettysburg dominated statistically, doubling up Denison in shots, 36-18 while holding a 21-14 advantage in groundballs. The Bullets, who went a perfect 18-for-18 on clears, committed just seven turnovers while forcing the Big Red into 20 giveaways and a 13-for-20 showing on clear attempts.
 
Denison claimed a 17-14 edge in draw controls and was 4-for-5 on free-position shots compared to the host's 4-for-6 effort from the eight-meter arc.
 
Casey McTague paced the Big Red with three goals and a game-high nine draw controls, while Josie Lucchesi scored twice for the visitors.
 
Maeve Caldwell suffered the loss despite making four saves in the first half, while Caroline O'Dea turned aside nine shots in the final 30 minutes of the contest.
 
Sunday's quarterfinal matchup between Gettysburg and Washington and Lee will start at 1:00 p.m. at Clark Field.
 
Ironically, Gettysburg's slate this weekend mirrors an early stretch of this spring's regular season. The Bullets defeated Denison on February 26, 14-7 at Clark Field before taking on Washington and Lee in their next game. Gettysburg is looking for a similar result to that March 6th contest in Lexington, Va., when the Bullets edged the Generals, 13-12.

Gettysburg is looking to advance to the NCAA semifinals for the eighth time in the last 17 years and extend the careers of Head Coach Carol Cantele '83 and Associate Coach Barb Jordan in their quest for the program's fourth national championship.