BALTIMORE, Md. -- Led by five goals from graduate student Erica Evans and strong defensive play, causing 13 turnovers, the No. 1 Maryland women's lacrosse team blew past No. 25 Penn State, 15-8 in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals, Friday night. 

"Proud of our team and how we handled the pressure of the conference tournament," said head coach Cathy Reese. "We came out and did some really nice things defensively and were able to control the ball on offense. We were able to do what we needed to do to get the victory and look forward to playing on Sunday." 

Evans' five goals included the 300th point of her career with her third goal of the night. In her past four games, Evans has tallied 19 goals scoring four against Northwestern, four against Georgetown, six against Johns Hopkins and now five tonight against Penn State.

Sophomores Grace Griffin (three goals, one assist) and Catie May (two goals, two assists) and junior Brindi Griffin (one goal, three assists) each had four points, with May's marking a career-high. The highlight of the night however came in the first half as junior Lizzie Colson won a draw, sprinted down the field and netted a goal, only the second of her career, with the first coming in the first game of her career in 2017. Colson also had five draw controls, three groundballs and two caused turnovers in a fantastic performance. 

Defensively, senior Megan Taylor was incredible with 14 saves and only seven goals allowed, a .667 save percentage. In the second half, Taylor saved nine shots and only allowed two goals, a .818 save percentage. The Terps 13 caused turnovers were led by three from senior Julia Braig. Senior Shelby Mercer and Colson each had two, while both also led the Terps with three groundballs. 

Maryland led 10-5 at halftime behind Evans' five goals. Junior Kali Hartshorn had two unbelievable highlight reel shots, one flick and one behind the back strike, while Colson's goal and one apiece by G. Griffin and May led the way. 

The Terps stifled Penn State in ther second half, only allowing them to score three times with G. Griffin leading the way with two goals. Maryland won the effort in the draw circle, 13-12 behind seven from Hartshorn, five from Colson and one from senior Kelsey Cummings. 

With tonight's win, the Terps advance to their fourth straight Big Ten Tournament Championship game and will face the winner of Northwestern and Michigan on Sunday at noon on the Big Ten Network.