BOYDS, Md. -- It was a tough initiation into the Premier Cup level for the Kutztown University women's rugby team during the 2023 Collegiate Rugby Championship National 7s at a rain-soaked Maryland SoccerPlex, Friday. The Golden Bears dropped their opening round match to title contender Brown, 54-0, and later fell to Indiana, 20-0, in the Survivor Bowl quarterfinals.

Stepping up to the elite bracket after competing in the D1 Club classification at last year's championship in New Orleans proved to be a whole different ballgame.

Kutztown battled valiantly, but were simply overmatched by the powerful Brown Bears in their Premier Cup debut. Brown opened the scoring in the third minute with a try right between the sticks, knocked the conversion through and the West Region's No. 1 seed was off and running.

Brown increased its advantage to 21-0 at halftime with a tries and conversions in the sixth minute and right before the break at the seven-minute mark.

Mahdia Parker ran for a long try to open the second half, her second of the day, and the conversion was good once again as the Bears made it 28-0.

When Kutztown did get possession, Brown was there to suffocate them defensively.

Nicole Parker (Prospect Park, Pa./Interboro) took the ensuring kick out past her own 22-meter line and Gabrielle Quigg (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) pushed forward with a powerful carry to cross the 10-meter line as the Maroon and Gold looked to break into Brown territory, but the slick conditions led to an offload miscue and Brown quickly regained control. A few seconds letter Nikki Lynch was in the try zone for her second of the match.

The score quickly got away from KU as Morgan Cunningham weaved through for a try between the sticks off an immediate kick recovery for a 42-0 lead. Brown added two tries and a conversion in the last minute for its final margin of victory.

Kutztown licked its wounds after the Brown match and came out ready to give Indiana a fight. The Golden Bears kicked off, but recovered to secure the first possession.

Unfortunately, the Bears put the ball on the ground shortly thereafter, allowing the Hoosiers to take over. IU took advantage, breaking free down the left side for a try less than a minute in. The conversion was no good, however, and the score was 5-0.

The Hoosiers added another try in the waning moments of the half to lead 10-0 at the break.

KU held its own defensively throughout the 14-minute contest, but much like Brown, Indiana was smothering defensively. Teresa Brutto's squad was pinned deep in its own territory and finally ceded another try in the 12th minute that pushed Indiana's lead to 15-0. The Hoosiers capped off the win with a long try run right before the final whistle.

Though Kutztown suffered a pair of defeats Friday, they'll come back Saturday in the Challenge Shield looking to finish their trip on a high note. Four teams will comprise the Challenge Shield bracket starting with semifinal games before championship and third-place games.

The Golden Bears are awaiting their opponent and start time in the semifinals. Those two semifinals were scheduled to start at 3:13 p.m. or 3:34 p.m., respectively, but play had to be suspended for the day just after 4:30 p.m. due to the extreme weather conditions. Therefore, National Collegiate Rugby (NRC) will have to reschedule the rest of Friday's unplayed games and a revised schedule for Saturday will be forthcoming.

For updates, visit the tournament central page linked above or follow @ncrrugby on Twitter.