RICHMOND, Va.—Massachusetts was relentless in the second half, exploding for 10 goals to capture their 12^th Atlantic 10 Women’s Lacrosse title Sunday at Robins Stadium with a 15-4 victory over Saint Joseph’s.

The top-seeded Minutewomen (15-3) earn the A-10’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will learn their seeding Sunday night during the NCAA selection show.

Leading 5-2 at halftime, UMass caught fire quickly. Norah Prizzi opened the scoring with a goal less than one minute into the second half. SJU’s Riley Moore responded, but then Ava Connaughton found the cage to start a 9-1 scoring run that put the game out of reach for the Hawks. Connaughton turned a hat trick during that run, earning All-Championship honors.  Prizzi scored again and Dylan Lyons and Tessa Shields each scored twice in the run. Shields earned All-Championship honors with a game-high five points on three goals and two assists.
All-Championship selection Maddie Yoder scored the Hawks lone goal in the UMass run, and she had five draw controls, giving her 13 in SJU’s two games.

The Minutewomen were in control in the first half, but the Hawks (11-8) were never far behind. Kate Fuhrman recorded the first goal of the game for Saint Joseph’s, before UMass scored three straight, with Shields, All-Championship selection Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw and Kassidy Morris all scoring. Morris was named the Championship’s Most Outstanding Player with two goals Sunday and five goals in the semifinals.  After Alexa Capozzoli pulled SJU within one, Morris and Rodriguez-Shaw each scored again to establish the 5-2 halftime margin.

Joining Morris, Rodriguez-Shaw, Shields, and Connaughton on the All-Championship team were Jordan Dean from UMass, Capozzoli, Sarah Groark and Jordan Concordia from Saint Joseph’s, VCU’s Ashley Karn, Jenna Skibbe of Davidson and Richmond’s Grace Muldoon.