WILMINGTON, Del. – For the third consecutive season, the UMass women’s basketball team will play for a championship. 

It’s a sweet moment for the Minutewomen, a team where success has become an expectation. No longer the underdog, top-seeded UMass showed in its semifinal game against No. 5 Richmond exactly why it is the No. 1 team in the Atlantic 10 Conference tourney. 

After one of the sloppiest games of the season in the quarterfinals against George Mason on Friday, UMass came out and did everything right against the Spiders, riding a second half surge to an 80-60 semifinal win on Saturday at the Chase Fieldhouse.

Sam Breen picked up another double-double, putting up 14 points and 12 rebounds, and four players – Breen, Destiney Philoxy (16), Makennah White (14) and Ber’Nyah Mayo (13) – finished in double-digit scoring.

The defending conference champion Minutewomen (26-5) will play No. 3 Saint Louis in the championship game on Sunday at noon (ESPNU) after the Billikens held off No. 2 Rhode Island in Saturday’s other semifinal, 59-56.

Perhaps the most meaningful stat on the score sheet came in the assist column. All seven of UMass’ rotation players dished out at least one assist, and three of them – Breen, Philoxy and Sydney Taylor – had four helpers each.

“I think it was just a read, everyone finding the open player, passing up the good shots for the great shots and not forcing it,” Breen said. “I think our guards did a really good job of attacking the paint and then either finding open shooters or the drop off pass to the post.” 

It was a much-needed boost from Friday’s quarterfinal game, where the Minutewomen struggled to find each other on the offensive end. After a slow start that had it playing catchup against George Mason, UMass exploded in the opening quarter against Richmond. Though Addie Budnik had the first basket of the day for the Spiders, UMass went on a 9-0 run immediately after that forced a Richmond timeout.

“I thought that we came out with a purpose here today... I told my team that I thought we were playing together and I thought we were connected,” Verdi said. “That was the biggest thing [Friday]. Regardless of our opponent, we just didn't play UMass basketball, we weren't connected. We were almost trying too hard in the moment. I thought today it was just a balanced attack.” 

Trailing 17-9 after one quarter, Richmond showed its resiliency yet again in the tournament. In their quarterfinal game against No. 4 Fordham on Friday, the Spiders fought back from a massive double-digit deficit early to secure a 70-65 win. They battled back again against UMass, riding a massive eight-point explosion from Rachel Ullstrom over a three-minute span to take a 22-21 lead and force a UMass timeout. 

It wasn’t an easy contest for UMass – the Minutewomen struggled to contain Budnik, as the junior exploded for 25 points. But ultimately, the top seed’s experience and polished fundamentals overwhelmed Richmond, which was outscored 23-12 in the third quarter. 

“They're a really good team. They're experienced, they've been here before. None of us have been here before, so they knew what to do,” Budnik said. “They were calm, they were collected. I thought that we stayed together… but they were hitting shots, they were getting boards, they were doing what UMass does, so that's tough to shut down. But we gave it our best try.” 

Eight of those third-period points came from White off the bench, who was untouchable in the paint in the second half. After scoring just one basket in the first half, White’s confidence skyrocketed in the latter half, notching 12 points over the last 20 minutes. 

“My confidence was at an all-time high,” White said. “(Verdi) told me, ‘They can't guard you.’ When you’re hearing that from your teammates, but also your coaching staff, that gives you that confidence to go like ‘hey, you can’t guard me,’ so of course I'm gonna go to the basket and that's what I did.” 

On top of the Minutewomen collecting 18 assists, they also out-rebounded Richmond 35-25, something they struggled with against George Mason and has been a point of emphasis for the team all year long. UMass has been practicing with a “bubble” – a rim cover with bubbles along the top that can send a ball flying anywhere on the court, giving the players nightmares but effectively getting them ready for grabbing in-game boards. 

“(Rebounding) is a big focus for us definitely, defensively and offensively. We only gave up two offensive rebounds today, so that's probably the lowest we’ve given up, so the bubble has been helping,” Breen said. “Everyone is crashing the boards too, four of us on offense and then the one safety back, making sure we do that to get as many second chance points as we can.” 

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