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Women’s Lacrosse Falls in Big Ten Championship; Ranked No. 1 for NCAA Tournament

By Maryland Athletics Staff

The No. 1 Maryland women's lacrosse team (18–1) lost for the first time this season, dropping the Big Ten Tournament Championship game yesterday to No. 5 Northwestern, 16–11.

For the seventh straight season, however, the team will enter NCAA Tournament as the top seed.

Yesterday saw Maryland’s second-ever Big Ten loss, with both coming in the conference tournament—the other was in 2015 against Ohio State. The Terps are now 35–2 all-time against Big Ten opponents.

Graduate student Erica Evans, senior Julia Braig and juniors Lizzie Colson and Brindi Griffin were named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. It was the second straight selection for Braig and Colson and the first for Evans and Colson.

Senior Megan Taylor notched her 700th career save in the game, becoming only the third Terp ever to accomplish this feat after Alex Kahoe (1997–2000) with 968 and Marylynne Morgan (1981–84) with 720.

Maryland was down for the entire contest, trailing 5–2 off the bat. Back-to-back goals by Griffin and senior Caroline Steele got Maryland to within one, but Northwestern scored five straight goals to end the half up six, 10–4. It was Maryland’s largest halftime deficit since March 14, 2007, when Maryland trailed Virginia 8–1.

The Terps won the second half, outscoring Northwestern 7–6. Junior Hannah Warther had two goals, and Steele had a career-high three assists in the contest.

The Terps received a bye in the first round of their 30th straight NCAA tournament. They'll meet the winner of a first-round contest between Stony Brook (154) and James Madison (16–3) at noon on Sunday at at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. Earlier this season, the Terps defeated James Madison 18–5 in Harrisonburg.

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