Moon Township, Pa. - On the strength of an irresistible opening 48 minutes, the Robert Morris University women's lacrosse team collected its fourth victory in a row, 14-12 over visiting Detroit on a spring-like Monday afternoon at Joe Walton Stadium.

Junior midfielders Corey Karwacki (five goals) and Brittany Byerly (three goals, one assist) kept up their scintillating offensive pace, while freshman Dana Davis added her first NCAA hat trick to power the Colonials (4-1) to their second win in two tries on their home field.

RMU grinded to a 6-2 lead at halftime, then scored five of the next eight goals to take a 11-5 lead into the final 12 minutes of regulation. However, a spirited Detroit squad netted seven of the last 10 to tighten the gap, with Kylie Birney's fifth goal of the game pulling the Titans (2-4) within two with 1:29 to play.

Although the Colonials were able to close out the victory with possession, it was their closest margin since a season-opening double-overtime loss to Duquesne on Feb. 18.

"I think we had a really good first half," said RMU head coach Katy Phillips. "Later on we took some risks offensively where you don't want to see them, but the exciting part is that we battled and came out with a win when we didn't necessarily put our brand of lacrosse on the field."

Robert Morris outpaced Detroit 38-27 in total shots, an advantage generated by an aggressive pressure-based defense that broke up seven of the Titans' 14 clear attempts. The Colonials caused 10 turnovers in all and scooped up 27 ground balls.

"We created a ton of additional offensive opportunities from those turnovers," Phillips said. "That was part of our preparation for this game."

Davis played a critical role in stifling Detroit's clears, ending up with game-highs in ground balls (eight) and caused turnovers (three). The freshman from Garnet Valley, Pa., who earned her second Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week honors late Monday afternoon, has enhanced the Colonials' all-around game immensely.

"I thought she was the definitely our MVP today," Phillips said. "Dana is a true midfielder who has 60 minutes in her every game. She was all over the field and had some amazing takeaways...that's her bread and butter. We set it up so she can read the play and pick off passes."

"I was in the right place at the right time," added the self-deprecating Davis. "We tried to force them to make bad passes and then double-team them right away."

In addition to her excellent defensive work, Davis scored two of her three goals in the final 10 minutes to help hold off Detroit. She also added four draw controls while aggressively aiding Jessica Karwacki (10 draw controls) in the possession battle.

"We worked well as a unit," Davis said. "They were very tenacious, so we had to be tougher. We kept fighting back and working hard."

Davis went 2 for 2 on free-position shots, as did Corey Karwacki, who matched a career best with her five tallies. Karwacki, a Maryland native, has scored at least five points in four straight games; with 23 points (15g, 8a) in five outings, last season's top scorer is four behind senior Kristin Yoviene (14g, 13a) for the team lead this year.

Byerly tied Yoviene in the goal-scoring category, climbing to 14 on the season with her fourth multi-goal effort of the season. Senior attack Emma Baukhages earned a pair of first-half assists, one shy of her personal best in that category. 

The 14-goal output was the Colonials' lowest of the season - Phillips attributed some of that to "overthinking" some new offensive sets - but they still rank second in the nation at 18.8 goals per game.

RMU will stow its four-game winning streak in the overhead compartment as it flies to the west coast for a Friday afternoon matchup against Oregon. First draw against the Pac-12's Ducks is scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern time.

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