Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
#22 James Madison
No. 1 Northwestern Opens NCAA Tournament Play Sunday
5/8/2026 5:31:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
EVANSTON, Ill. — After earning a first-round bye, No. 1 ranked and top-seeded Northwestern will face No. 22 James Madison in a second-round matchup of the NCAA Tournament at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium on Sunday, May 10 at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
The Wildcats (15-3, 7-1 Big Ten), who enter Sunday on a 10-game winning streak, swept the Big Ten's regular season and tournament titles for the fourth consecutive year.. NU has knocked off eight ranked opponents across its last nine games, becoming the first team to defeat multiple IWLCA No. 1 ranked squads in the same season since Florida in 2012.
Combe Family Head Lacrosse Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fourth year in a row, while senior attacker Madison Taylor picked up her second consecutive Big Ten Attacker of the Year honor.
Taylor is one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award, the highest individual honor in collegiate lacrosse. She is the award's first three-time finalist since Izzy Scane (2021, 2023, 2024) and the first player to be named a finalist in three consecutive seasons since Kayla Treanor (Syracuse) and Taylor Cummings (Maryland) each did so from 2014-16.
Amonte Hiller is tied all-time for most-ever NCAA titles won by a head coach (8) and leads the all-time coaches list in NCAA Championship appearances (11), Championship Weekend appearances (16), NCAA Tournament wins (59) and NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.819). She sports the longest NCAA Tournament streak among active coaches (22 seasons).
The 'Cats are 36-0 in home NCAA Tournament games under Amonte Hiller, a streak that began on May 13, 2004 with a win over Notre Dame.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
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455: Career points for Madison Taylor, the most among active NCAA Division I players and No. 4 in NCAA history. Taylor is 28 points behind Izzy Scane's Wildcat record of 483 and 43 away from Kylie Ohlmiller's national record. Taylor is the only player in the history of the sport to compile 450+ points and 200+ draw controls.
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743: Career saves for Jenika Cuocco, the NCAA's active leader. She has posted 161 saves on a 51.6% save percentage in 2026, both of which rank top 10 nationally.
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545: Career draw controls for Maddie Epke, the NCAA's active DCs leader. Epke, Taylor and Cuocco were selected in the inaugural WLL College Draft on April 14.
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21: Northwestern's current streak of NCAA Tournaments with at least one victory, dating back to the 2004 season. Amonte Hiller is the only coach in program history to win multiple NCAA Tournament games.
LAST TIME OUT
Northwestern secured its fourth consecutive Big Ten Tournament title with an 8-7 overtime win over Maryland in U-M Lacrosse Stadium on April 26.
Annabel Child buried the dagger, her third goal of the game, with less than a second remaining in the first sudden-death period. Child scored her first career hat trick in the win and scooped a trio of ground balls.
Jenika Cuocco logged an historic performance between the pipes. Cuocco recorded a program-record 18 saves on a 72% save percentage. She tied the Big Ten Tournament record for saves in a single game and logged the second highest save percentage in Big Ten Championship history. Cuocco extended the game with three clutch stops in overtime.
Aditi Foster and Madison Taylor each recorded two points, while Taylor Lapointe and Lucy Munro both added a goal.
With the win, Northwestern became the first-ever Big Ten program to four-peat as tournament champions. The Wildcats also became the first team in NCAA history to ever win seven consecutive games against Maryland.
SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats have matched up with James Madison four times — but they haven't lined up against the Dukes since 1989. Northwestern holds a 3-1 record in the all-time series.
NEXT UP
A victory would send Northwestern to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, which will take place on Thursday, May 14 at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium at a time TBD. NU would take on the winner of the Boulder, Colo. pod, which includes No. 8 Colorado, Florida, Denver and Jacksonville.
