Washington, D.C. (JMU Athletics) — #14 James Madison lacrosse used a 5-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to pull away from Georgetown for a 16-11 win at Cooper Field on Wednesday afternoon.

Payton Root powered the JMU (8-4, 3-0 AAC) attack with a game-high seven assists and one goal. Maddie Epke scored six goals and provided two assists while winning a game-high nine draw controls. Defensively, Maddie Weybrecht, Ava Bleckley, and Carolyn Thistlewaite caused three turnovers each while Maggie Clark picked up a season-high four ground balls.

Adanya Moyer made her eighth start in the cage and saved 18 of 33 shots faced for a career high. Moyer also held the Hoyas to 1-of-6 on free-position shots. JMU set season-high marks in points (27), assists (11), and caused turnovers (14).

Georgetown (7-6, 2-1 Big East) was paced by Gracie Diggs with six goals while Anne McGovern provided five assists and Rileigh Meyer caused three turnovers.

How it Happened
First Quarter – James Madison 3, Georgetown 3
• The contest began in a defensive theme as only three total shots were taken in the first half of the opening quarter.
• The Hoyas netted game’s first goal at the 8:37 mark, which was immediately followed by a Savannah Derey goal on the next possession. The two squads kept pace with each other and found themselves even at three after one.

Second Quarter – James Madison 7, Georgetown 7
• JMU took a 5-3 lead off a 3-0 run bridging the first and second periods, capped by a free-position goal from Epke at the 11:59 mark of the quarter.
• After Georgetown responded with another goal to make it 5-4, scoring stalled until the 6:39 mark as the Hoyas netted another to tie things up again. The Dukes struggled to build a lead as they coughed up six turnovers in the quarter and headed into halftime tied again.

Third Quarter – James Madison 11, Georgetown 9
• Georgetown took an 8-7 lead at the 13:16 mark of the third frame, before Root sparked another 3-0 run with her lone goal to make it 11-8 JMU with 4:57 to go in the quarter. Root scored or assisted on each goal over the run.
• Each squad managed one more score in the closing minutes of the period as the Dukes led 11-9 after three.

Fourth Quarter – James Madison 16, Georgetown 11
• JMU controlled possession to start the fourth, winning the first four draw controls to take a 15-9 lead midway through the final frame.
• The Hoyas didn’t score in the quarter until the 3:44 mark to shave one off the deficit, but it was followed by another Epke score as JMU ran out the clock for the win.

Game Notes
• The seven assists by Root are the most in a single game this season and just one shy of the JMU record of eight notched by Katie Kerrigan in 2018 against Elon.
• Epke extended her scoring streak to 31 games and tied her season-high in goals (six), while also winning her 400th career draw control.
• JMU recorded three scoring runs of 3-0 or more in the contest and improved its record to 8-1 when doing so. The Dukes also improved their record to 7-0 when leading after the third quarter and 5-1 in contests outside of Harrisonburg this season.

Up Next
JMU will hit the road again as it heads to Philadelphia on Saturday, April 12 to take on Temple in conference action. Opening draw is set for noon.

— JMU Athletics —