WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The Towson University women's lacrosse rolled to a 20-9 win at William & Mary on Sunday afternoon and clinched a spot in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament. Nine Tigers scored as Towson recorded its most goals in a game since the 2010 season.

The Tigers will now have a chance to defend their three straight CAA titles when the conference tournament is held May 1-3 in Newark, Del.

"I'm really pleased with the outcome, I don't think the score is indicative of the play, it was a battle," said Towson Head Coach Sonia LaMonica. "Coming out of the gate, William & Mary played strong and we were struggling to find our rhythm but Kelsea Donnelly stepped up and made some key plays to give us possession and get us moving in the right direction. I felt William & Mary battled from start to finish and both teams fought hard."

William & Mary (5-10, 1-4 CAA) came out hot scoring a pair of goals and taking a 2-0 lead with 25:33 to play in the half.

Donnelly got the Tigers moving in the right direction as she intercepted a Tribe pass and the Tigers went on the offensive attack. Towson (8-7, 3-3 CAA) got on the board at 17:11 as freshman midfielder Emily Gillingham took a pass from redshirt senior attacker Andi Raymond and buried it in the back of the net.

That goal started an 8-0 run by the Tigers to close out the first half. Sophomore midfielder Samantha Brookhart scored twice during the run while redshirt sophomore midfielder Michelle Gildea also scored twice and assisted on another goal. Raymond had a goal and an assist while sophomore attacker Gabby Cha contributed a goal and an assist.

Towson outshot the Tribe 16-10 in the first half. William & Mary won seven of the 11 draw controls in the first 30 minutes of play.

William & Mary scored three of the first four goals in the second half and made it a 9-5 game with 22:22 to play. Back-to-back goals from Raymond and freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Montalbano gave Towson an 11-5 lead with 17:21 left in the game. Shannon Quinn briefly halted the visitors' run with a goal at 16:32 which made it an 11-6 game.

Towson used a 5-0 run to extend its lead to 16-6 with 12:50 to play. Senior midfielder Paige Duncan scored twice during the run while Gildea and Cha each completed their hat tricks. Also included in the run was freshman midfielder Maddie Tribbe's first career goal.

William & Mary again briefly halted the Tiger run, this time with a goal from Ellen Shaffrey at 10:28.

Towson closed the game on a 4-2 run which made the final score 20-9. Montalbano and Brookhart both scored their third goal of the game during that run. Brookhart also added a pair of assists while sophomore attacker Michaela Duranti scored a goal.

Towson finished with an 18-16 edge in shots in the second half and finished the game with a 34-26 advantage. The Tigers won 13 of the 20 draw controls in the second half. Towson finished the game with a 17-14 edge in that category.

Donnelly made six saves in goal to earn the win in the cage. Junior Alyssa Saxon made one save in 9:35 of relief work. Meredith Crizer made seven saves in the loss for the Tribe.

The Tigers had four players record a hat trick in the win. Brookhart led the way with three goals and three assists while also adding a team-high six draw controls. Montalbano had three goals, an assist, two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Gildea tallied three goals and an assist while Cha posted three goals and two assists.

Raymond had two goals and four assists for six points. She will enter the regular season finale needing one point to become the fifth player in program history with 200 career points. Senior defender Michelle Dufault, who tied the school record for career games started with 73 had two ground balls and a caused turnover.

Quinn led William & Mary with three goals while Shaffrey had two goals and an assist.

Towson closes out the regular season on Saturday, April 25 when it hosts Johns Hopkins at 1 p.m. in Johnny Unitas ® Stadium. The Tigers will honor their nine seniors prior to the game.