MEMPHIS - Junior Kendall Cunningham scored eight goals as the Rhodes College women's lacrosse team held off a second half rally from Illinois Wesleyan to pick up a 16-10 win and advance to the Sweet 16 next weekend against Gettysburg. 

It was a historic afternoon for the Lynx, as they hosted a NCAA Championship event for the first time in school history, welcoming the TItans to Mason Field for the second time this season.

The Lynx were out shot for the first time this season, 31-29, while the Titans also held a 23-20 advantage in shots on goal. Rhodes forced 28 Titan turnovers, butturned the ball over a season-high 29 times. Rhodes added 39 ground balls and 12 draw controls on the day.

Rhodes came out firing in the first half, taking a 4-0 lead in the first 10 minutes behind a pair of goals from Cunningham and goals from senior Lindsay Gess and freshman Madison Rubino. 

After a Titan goal, junior Ashley Doyle and Cunningham scored back-to-back goals to make it a 6-1 lead. Cunningham scored again between two IWU goals to make the score 7-3.

Cunningham continued her first half dominance, scoring two more goals in the final two minutes to increase the lead to 9-3 at the break. Cunningham finished with six goals in the first half alone. 

Rhodes continued to press in the second half as senior Maggie Rippeto got on the scoreboard with a pair of goals to take an 11-3 lead midway through the second half, looking as though the Lynx were ready to run away with the contest.

But Illinois Wesleyan had a response, scoring seven of the next eight goals to cut the deficit down to three. Rhodes responded with three straight goals from Rippeto, Cunningham, and junior Erin Gleeson to take back control of the game at 15-9. Gleeson added a second goal late as the horn sounded in a 16-10 win for Rhodes.

Cunningham finished with eight goals, bringing her total to 108 on the season. Rippeto added three goals and an assist while Gess, Doyle, and Gleeson had two points each. Freshman Kaeley Bennett and junior Olivia Holmes added an assist while Rubino had a goal.

Defensively, Gleeson was outstanding, finishing with four caused turnovers. Sophomore Annika Hedlund, junior Rachel Windmueller, sophomore Dylan Craddock, and sophomore Daly Colarossi all added two. Windmueller also had six ground balls while Doyle and Bennett added four.

Junior Katherine Tooley had an excellent afternoon in goal, finishing with 13 saves on the day and adding two caused turnovers.

Rhodes moves to 19-0 and will move on to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. It is the second win for the Lynx at the NCAA Championship with their first coming two years ago against Meredith.

The Lynx will face a tough test as they travel to Gettysburg, Pa. to take the No. 3 team in the nation, the Gettysburg Bullets. The match is set for May 20th and a time has not been set as of yet.