It wasn't the Scholastic Bowl, but Princeton still dominated.

The No.2 Tige rs (5-1) used a feisty defense and made loose ball-Princeton ball, as they rolled over the No. 12 Penn State women's lacrosse team (3-3) 17-8 at Holuba Hall on Saturday afternoon.

When playing the No. 2 team in the nation, the struggle for ground balls and possession is always critical if you're thinking upset special. But the battle of draw control and loose balls was a lopsided affair all day as the Nittany Lions put themselves in a ditch when they were unable to corral 50-50 balls throughout the afternoon. Princeton got to 27 ground balls while Penn State picked up just 15 and the Tigers won 27 draw controls compared to just 10 for the Lions.

"Princeton won the battle of draw control and ground balls by a landslide," Penn State head coach Suzanne Isidor said. "And that's huge."

A key sequence that defined Princeton's dominance in the war for loose balls came at the end of the first half. Trailing 9-4 with 30 seconds remaining, the Lions had a golden opportunity to cut Princeton's lead and head into the break with a little momentum. But senior attacker Molly Ford couldn't control a pass from sophomore Katie Jeschke on a breakaway and Princeton defender Jess Nelson out-hustled the Lions and picked up the free ball. Princeton proceeded to furiously push the ball down the field and pick up a score with just two seconds remaining in the half. The two-goal turnaround gave the Tigers a commanding 10-4 halftime advantage.

"The hustle plays allowed us to retake the possession for much of the game," Princeton head coach Chris Sailer said. "To win those 50-50 balls is a big focus of ours. We wanted to come in and hustle."

On top of controlling the battle for loose balls, Princeton played a ferocious man-to-man defense that put Penn State on lockdown all afternoon. Although the Lions were not on the attack much throughout the contest, they struggled in the scoring area. Much of the time Princeton's defense didn't even allow Penn State to get a shot on net, and when the Lions did get a shot, they were usually off-balanced, highly contested attempts.

A key for the Tigers was creating offense from defense. Princeton turned aside several shots that led to fast breaks and easy goals for the Tigers.

"We have a real experienced defense," Sailer said. "They're quick and strong. The turnovers our 'D' was able to create gave us a number of fast break opportunities."

Although the Lions didn't fare against the Tigers on Saturday, many of the mistakes they made were more mental than physical. Loose balls can go either way, and if the teams were to meet again, it could be a whole different contest if the Lions were able to grab those loose balls.

"We need to get back to work," Isidor said. "We need to focus. We need to get the job done in practice. Princeton was tougher mentally."