Eloise Clevenger picked up a ground ball at the halfway line as Hannah Leubecker raced by her. Clevenger gained possession and lobbed a high-arcing pass to her attack partner midway through the final period.

Leubecker raised her stick, catching the pass and beginning a fast break into the attacking zone. Rutgers defender Madison Karpe committed a foul inside the eight-meter arc to try and stop the graduate student from scoring, but it only delayed the inevitable.

She fired a free position shot low that dribbled over the goal line. The goal extended No. 2 Maryland women’s lacrosse’s lead to four, an advantage it kept for the remainder of the contest. Leubecker’s six tallies, her highest scoring game this year, aided the Terps in defeating Rutgers, 13-8, at the Maryland Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex Sunday.

“We’re really starting to build our chemistry where we know what each other’s strengths are and we’re playing off those strengths,” Leubecker said. “When we’re all dangerous, it just opens everybody else up.”

The Terps (9-1, 2-0 Big Ten) remained undefeated in home conference games under coach Cathy Reese. The victory marks Maryland’s fifth consecutive win over the Scarlet Knights (5-5, 0-3 Big Ten).

Maryland’s attack blitzed Rutgers’ defense inside the opening four minutes. The Terps won the first three draw controls and cashed in on each offensive possession before Rutgers entered its attacking zone.

[Veteran duo lifts Maryland women’s lacrosse to 13-7 win over Georgetown]

Maryland’s attack blitzed Rutgers’ defense inside the opening four minutes. The Terps won the first three draw controls and cashed in on each offensive possession before Rutgers entered its attacking zone.

Libby May cut sharply inside the eight-meter arc and beat Rutgers goalie Sophia Cardello on a high shot for the first goal. Kori Edmondson ripped in a high shot on a player-up opportunity a minute later. May added her second of the contest not long after.

Midfielder Shaylan Ahearn’s goal is to win over half of the draw controls her team lines up for. She achieved that mark on Sunday. Ahearn and former Scarlet Knights’ Big Ten Defender of the Year Meghan Ball collected the majority of the Terps’ draw controls.

Maryland led the draw control battle after the opening quarter, six to two. Cassidy Spilis scored the Scarlet Knights’ lone goal in the period.

Chrissy Thomas and Hannah Leubecker each scored to mark a six-goal first quarter, tying Maryland’s second-highest scoring quarter of the season. Its highest came against William & Mary in an eight-goal opening frame.

Dominance in the draw circle continued throughout the opening half. Spilis, who holds the third most draw controls in Rutgers history, entered the game ranked 30th nationally with 52 draw controls. She only won four and Maryland ended the half with a 71 percent success rate.

“[Ahearn’s] excellent at what she does … she has a great way of adapting and adjusting and figuring out her opponent, and then putting it where she wants it,” Reese said. “So, glad she’s on my team.”

[Strong defense leads Maryland women’s lacrosse to 12-6 win over Ohio State]

But despite benefitting from the draw, the Terps’ attack subsided after its flurry of goals. Maryland didn’t score in the second quarter, three of its four shot attempts saved by Cardello. Rutgers scored twice, courtesy of Spilis and Ava Kane, to cut into the Terps’ five-goal lead at halftime, 6-3.

Leubecker ended Maryland’s goalless drought to begin the third quarter, completing her third consecutive game with a hat trick. She dodged at the top of the shooting arc, moved to her left and fired a low shot into the net.

But for every Terps goal, Rutgers had a response. Spilis scored after Leubecker’s strike, and then again after Edmondson hit the back of the net for the second time in the game. The attacker’s two third period scores put her at 40 goals for the season.

Maryland’s attack was once again stagnant. The unit didn’t score for five minutes in the third period as Rutgers cut the deficit to two goals. Maggie Weisman ended the drought before Leubecker added her fourth, extending the Terps’ lead to four. However, Spilis struck with one second remaining to keep the Scarlet Knights within three, 10-7.

Rutgers put in the opening goal of the fourth quarter but was held scoreless for the final 13 minutes. Leubecker scored twice — her fifth and sixth of the contest — to preserve Maryland’s second conference win of the season. The attacker has scored 11 goals in her last two games.

“We just see what she’s capable of. She’s such a threat, she’s so dangerous,” Reese said.