The UMass women's lacrosse used a dominant first half and overall strong performance from start to finish on Wednesday afternoon against UMass Lowell, knocking off the River Hawks 16-7 on Garber Field. The Minutewomen were led by five points from Stephanie Croke (four goals, one assist), four from Kaitlyn Cerasi (one goal, three assists) and three points apiece from Haley Connaughton (one goal, two assists) and Alex Finn (two goals, one assist). Lauren Hiller got the start in goal, making two saves in limited action before giving way to Bridgette Wall (three saves) and Tess Castellano (two saves) in the second half. Additionally, Olivia Muscella recorded a game-high 11 draw controls to help UMass to a 17-8 advantage, including a 14-3 edge in the first half alone. UMass also outshot the River Hawks 27-12 (SOG) for the game and forced 18 UML turnovers. Massachusetts (2-2) was in control from the outset, opening the game with nine straight goals to take a commanding lead less than 13 minutes in. Croke got things going with a pair of early strikes, including one off a feed from Connaughton after UMass Lowell was assessed a yellow card, to give the hosts a two-goal cushion 3:35 in. UMass put its depth on display in the half, receiving the next seven goals from six different scorers including tallies from Muscella, Croke, Connaughton, Cerasi, Maddy Moloney and Finn to go up 9-0. After Izzy Liqouri (four goals) found the back of the net twice, UMass maintained momentum at the offensive end of the field with four of the next five goals to close the half with a decisive 14-2 edge. The Minutewomen were able to empty the bench in the second half to give a number of players added experience on the field, with both Hannah Young and Julia Smith scoring during the final 30 minutes to keep UMass comfortably ahead. Massachusetts will be back in action on Saturday when the Minutewomen host Connecticut in a rematch of last weekend's meeting. Opening draw is slated for 1 p.m. on Garber Field on ESPN+.