GETTYSBURG, Pa. – A slow start doomed the No. 3 TCNJ women's lacrosse team to a 17-9 setback at Gettysburg in a top-10 tilt on Wednesday.

The 10^th-ranked Bullets scored the game's first five goals and controlled the first and fourth quarters to hand the Lions a defeat in their first midweek road game of the season.

All-American Jordan Basso went off for five goals and three assists for Gettysburg (6-3), which flipped the script from last year's TCNJ runaway in Ewing. On the same date in 2022, the Lions led 9-0 at halftime and had a running clock for parts of the fourth quarter against the perennial power from the Centennial Conference.

In a matchup of 2022 Final Four participants, the Bullets controlled the first two draws and scored on both, going in front 2-0 when the game was just 73 seconds old. By the time Morgan Vaccaro fired home a rebound for the Lions' first goal, the hosts had already opened up a 5-0 advantage.

Gettysburg returned the favor just 36 seconds later before Wayden Ay netted the first of her three goals on a free-position conversion with 31 ticks remaining in the opening frame.

Ay found the back of the net again to open the second-quarter scoring and get the Lions within 6-3, but the Bullets got goals from Julia Daly and Basso to restore a five-goal margin before Vaccaro's free-position effort made it 8-4 just before intermission.

TCNJ (7-2) made its move in the early portion of the second half. Vaccaro set up Ally Tobler for a woman-up goal, and Ay capped her hat-trick with another free-position conversion to slice the Bullets' lead to two (8-6) with 8:30 to go in the third.

The Lions had several chances to get even closer, but were unable to cash in, and Gettysburg effectively put the game away with two goals in the final 23 seconds of the period. The second, off an errant pass upfield, came on a tic-tac-toe transition passing sequence and just beat the buzzer to lift the Bullets to a 10-6 lead heading into the final 15 minutes. Basso then struck twice as Gettysburg rattled off three straight markers to begin the fourth, and the Lions got no closer than six the rest of the way.

Goalkeeper Julia Charest racked up a career-high 14 saves, but TCNJ was unable to stem the tide as Gettysburg piled up 38 shots and put 31 of them on target. Charest was especially effective on free-position chances, with the Bullets cashing in on just two of their eight opportunities.

Katie Fullowan had three goals and matched Lily Macatee with five draw controls to help the Bullets to a 16-13 edge in the circle.

Anna Devlin paced TCNJ with five draws and Sabrina Phillips added four, moving within three of 200 for her career. Vaccaro and Charest each notched three ground balls.

Tobler finished with two goals, her 30^th consecutive game with multiple markers.

The Lions look to get back on the winning track with a home game against Colorado College on Saturday.