The Ohio State women’s lacrosse trip to the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex in Nashville, Tenn., proved fruitful for the Ohio State women’s lacrosse team as it withstood a late rally and defeated the No. 15 Commodores, 13-11.

The No. 11-ranked Buckeyes notched their first American Lacrosse Conference victory and improved to 1-2 in the league and 9-3 overall.

Senior attacker Alayna Markwordt scored a season-high 10 points off of five goals and four assists, adding to her ALC-leading total, while fellow senior midfielder Gabby Capuzzi had a game-high five draw controls and two caused turnovers, a category in which she ranks ninth, nationally. Freshman goalkeeper Tori DeScenza had her second-best outing of the season with 11 saves.

The Buckeyes controlled the first seven and a half minutes of the game by commanding a 3-0 lead. From that point, Vanderbilt would storm back, trading goals with OSU and found themselves down only by two at the end of the first half, 8-6.

OSU started the second half and scored four unanswered goals, pushing their lead to 12-6. Senior midfielder Kirsten Donahue got the second half party started within the first two minutes by netting an unassisted goal. Markwordt had three assists during the stretch, dishing the ball to both Facchina sisters, Cara and Mary Kate, for goals.

Vanderbilt, though, would again mount a comeback, and went on a 5-1 run. The comeback attempt fell short.

But as they get closer to the end of the season and ALC championships, she knows there’s still a

tough road to hoe.

The Buckeyes return home after three straight road games to host No. 12-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions (8-4, 1-2 ALC).

The Sunday game against the Nittany Lions begins at noon and will be televised on the Big Ten Network.