BELMONT, N.C.- Kelly Wrightson (Germantown, Md., Damascus ) led the Queens women's lacrosse with five points, three goals and two assists, as the Royals gave No. 10 Belmont Abbey College a run for their money Thursday afternoon in Belmont, N.C. Despite a strong showing, Queens fell to the Crusaders 15-11.

Belmont Abbey, winners of four straight and 11 of its last 13, improves to 13-4 overall and 9-3 in Conference Carolinas, while Queens falls to 4-12 overall and 3-8 in Conference Carolinas.

Queens was out-shot 20-8 in the first half, but the Royals only trailed by three goals, 8-5. Goalie Rebecca Markle (Hampstead, Md., North Carroll ) made 10 saves in the first 30 minutes to keep Queens in the game.

Again in the second half Queens took eight shots, but held the Crusaders to just 15. Markle made four saves in the second half.

Queens was close to even with the Crusaders off the draw, with Queens winning 12 and the Abbey with 13.

Defensively, the Abbey won the ground ball battle 22-16

In addition to Wrightson's offensive efforts Alyssa Hughes (Damascus, Md. , Damascus ) had three goals, while Brittany Philip (Painted Post, N.Y., East) had two. Shannon Casey (Bel Air, Md., John Carroll), Carolyn Parsons (Glen Burnie, Md., Glen Burnie ) and Caitlin O'Rourke ( Winter Springs, Fla., Winter Springs ) each had one. Wrightson had a pair of assists, while Philip and Brittany Weller ( Fallston, Md., Fallston ) both had one each.

Tara Chmil led a solid Crusader offense with five goals.