Wingate Earns Fourth Straight Regular Season Title; SAC Tournament Bracket Released

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The Wingate Bulldogs ran the table to capture the outright 2026 South Atlantic Conference Women's Lacrosse Regular Season crown. Wingate topped the Catawba Indians in the regular-season finale to finish 10-0 in league play and earn the top seed in the upcoming SAC Tournament.

The Bulldogs have now won at least a share of the past four regular-season conference titles. The No. 16 Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 14-3 overall mark and earned a bye to the semifinals of the six-team SAC Tournament.

The Lenoir-Rhyne Bears captured the No. 2 seed and also earned a bye to the semifinal round on the strength of a 9-1 league record. The nine conference wins are the most in program history, and the second-place finish is the program's best since 2019.

With a 15-12 win in the regular-season finale this afternoon, the Anderson Trojans secured the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. Anderson posted an 8-2 conference mark, falling only to Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate, and is 11-6 overall.

UVA Wise Cavaliers will be the No. 4 seed after falling to Anderson today. Despite the loss, UVA Wise owns the second-most overall wins in the league with a 13-4 mark. Along with Anderson, UVA Wise will host a quarterfinal game on Saturday.

Wise will take on the fifth-seeded Newberry Wolves. Newberry went 6-4 in conference play and 9-8 overall. The Wolves will travel to Wise on Saturday for the opening round, with the winner advancing to face top-seeded Wingate.

The final seed goes to the Tusculum Pioneers, who advance to the SAC Tournament for the first time since 2018. The Pioneers went 5-5 in league play and are 9-8 overall. They will travel to Anderson for a quarterfinal matchup on Saturday.

The SAC Tournament opens with quarterfinal action on Saturday, April 25. The semifinals will be held Wednesday, April 29 at the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, with the championship game scheduled for Saturday, May 2 at 1 p.m. at the Sportsplex at Matthews in Matthews, N.C. Tickets for the championship game are available at tickets.thesac.com.

Saturday, April 25 (at highest seeds)
Game 1: #5 Newberry at #4 UVA Wise, 1 p.m.
Game 2: #6 Tusculum at #3 Anderson, 2 p.m.

Wednesday, April 29 (at highest seeds)
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. #1 Wingate
Game 4: Winner Game 2 vs. #2 Lenoir-Rhyne

Saturday, May 2 (Matthews, N.C.)
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 1:00 p.m.