MEMPHIS, Tenn. (April 26, 2023) – The 2023 Southern Athletic Association women’s lacrosse tournament champion will be crowned Sunday afternoon when Berry visits Rhodes in Memphis.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
 
The Lynx (13-5) are the top seed after posting a sixth-straight undefeated conference season. The Vikings went 5-1 in conference and are the two-seed. Game time is set for 12 p.m. CT at Mason Field on Rhodes campus.
 
The two schools met in Memphis on April 15 in the regular season with Rhodes winning 20-9.  The Lynx went up 9-2 early in the second quarter and held a 12-3 advantage at halftime. Avery Burke and Chloe Parker both tallied four goals and two assists while Emily Bruner added three goals and five assists for Rhodes. Dani Taraska, Haley Larsen and Katie Claire Smith each had two goals for Berry.
 
Rhodes earned a bye into the SAA semifinals and beat fifth-seed Oglethorpe 23-5 to earn its spot in the championship game.  Carina Wesker led the way with five goals. Berry beat three-seed Sewanee 14-10 in its semifinal game. Dani Taraska had seven points on four goals and three assists for the Vikings.
 
Rhodes leads the SAA and is third in the nation in offense, lighting up the scoreboard for 18.6 goals a game. They rank fourth in Division III with nearly 29 points a night, bolstered by 10 assists a game. Bruner tops the nation in both assists (90) and total points (114). Burke ranks 14^th with 68 goals.
 
Berry is No. 1 in the nation in caused turnovers at 15.6 a game and has Division III’s 45^th best defense, allowing just 8.6 goals per contest. Kristina Jones leads the SAA and is 41^st nationally in goals against average (9.26) while Haley Larsen is fifth in the country in free position percentage (80 percent)
 
Fans can follow the championship game live links on SAA-sports.com.