UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- In a closely played contest, the No. 13 Maryland women's lacrosse team fell to No. 2 Northwestern, 17-12, in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game on Sunday afternoon.

"Congrats to Northwestern on winning the Big Ten Championship," said head coach Cathy Reese. "It was a hard fought game. I was really proud of our girls and how we came out and stuck with it. We never gave up. We have made so much progress and so much growth as we've gone through this season. To see them play three games in four days, I'm just really proud of how they stuck it out. Looking forward to getting back to business and focusing on Maryland over the next week as we wait and see what's next for us."

The Terps jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game behind two goals from Libby May and one from Hannah Leubecker. After Northwestern got one back, another goal by May and a score by Brindi Griffin gave Maryland a 5-1 lead. Northwestern closed the half on a 6-2 run to tie the game at seven at halftime.

Northwestern won 12-of-16 draw controls in the second half to dominate possession. The Wildcats scored the first five goals of the half to go up 12-7. Maryland would fight back however, netting three in a row from Shaylan Ahearn, Grace Griffin and Hannah Warther to cut the deficit to two, a 12-10 game. As they did all day, Northwestern responded with three straight to go up 15-10 and ultimately win the game 17-12, behind two empty net goals down the stretch.

Brindi Griffin led the Maryland offense with four goals and an assist, shooting 100-percent. Libby May (three goals) and Warther (one goal, two assists) were right behind Griffin with three points.

On the defensive end, Emily Sterling made some tremendous plays including two interceptions, and recorded a career-high five groundballs and two caused turnovers.

Tori Barretta, Lizzie Colson and Grace Griffin were all named to the All-Tournament Team.

Barretta had eight groundballs and six caused turnovers on the weekend, Colson had 12 draw controls, seven groundballs and five caused turnovers on the weekend and Griffin had six goals, three assists, nine points, seven groundballs and three caused turnovers on the weekend.

Maryland will now have the week off before learning who they will face in the NCAA Tournament next Sunday, May 9.