HILTON HEAD, S.C. - A comeback attempt came up a little short as the Bridgewater College women's lacrosse team fell 12-9 to Drew University on Thursday in Hilton Head, S.C.

The Eagles trailed 7-3 at halftime and 10-5 later on, but rallied to within 10-9 with five minutes to play.

Sophomore goalie Rachel Gruber kept the Eagles in the game with nine first half saves, and finished with 15 stops. Senior defender Brittany Lanahan was outstanding on defense, and caused a team-best three turnovers.

Meredith Wimbrow had a hat trick on the attacking end, while junior Jesse Colligan added a goal, two assists, two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Jenna Devilbiss won five draw controls.

Down 10-5 with just over 12 minutes remaining, Colligan fed Caroline Fletcher for a goal that got BC going.

Claire Palermo-Re made it 10-7, and Wimbrow struck twice in 43 seconds to cut the deficit to one with 5:01 to play.

The Eagles' comeback ran out of steam however, and Drew responded with 3:56 remaining to help put the contest away.

Drew had jumped out to 2-0 lead in a span of just 12 seconds. After Anna Fiorino opened the scoring, Maddie Spiess struck right off the draw to double the lead.

Bridgewater pulled one back half a minute later, with Colligan finding senior Paige Hennessy in front of the cage.

The Eagles caught a tough break in the first half. Brittney Brown scored but did not turn her stick in quickly enough for the required check, resulting in the point being taken off the board.

That play was part of a scoreless Bridgewater streak that lasted nearly 20 minutes. Wimbrow and Colligan finally broke it late in the half with the final two goals of the period.

Before that Drew had opened up a 7-1 lead with five consecutive goals, including two straight from both Spiess and Nikki Kleiman.

Palermo-Re scored early in the second half to make it 8-4 Drew. Lanahan ventured forward and hit Fletcher with a pass that kept the Eagles within four, 9-5, with 22:50 remaining.

Spiess had a hat trick for Drew, while Krysta Cento had two goals and three assists.

Bridgewater falls to 2-3 on the season and will host Ferrum on Wednesday before beginning ODAC play at home next Saturday vs. Sweet Briar. Drew improves to 2-0 on the year.