Johnson and Peterson Honored by CAA Following Strong Finish

RICHMOND, Va. – Two James Madison starters earned Colonial Athletic Association women's lacrosse weekly awards, as redshirt senior Emma Johnson was named CAA Defensive Player of the Week and redshirt freshman Isabella Peterson was tabbed Rookie of the Week.

The Dukes are coming off a 2-0 showing at home, cruising to a 21-8 win against William & Mary and avenging an early season setback with a 15-9 triumph over Elon.

Johnson led the defense, causing six turnovers with four ground balls and a draw control. She started the week with two caused turnovers and three ground balls against W&M and followed it up with four caused turnovers in the Elon win. JMU's defense limited the teams to a combined .386 shooting percentage and held decisive leads in both caused turnovers (20-12) and ground balls (33-25).

With her performance on Sunday, Johnson tied the program record for most career caused turnovers. She matched Haley Warden's mark of 119 caused turnovers and will go after the outright record in next month's CAA Championship.

Peterson was lights out on the attack last week, scoring a team-high 11 goals while winning 10 draw controls. She began the week with five goals and five draws versus the Tribe and capped off the homestand with a career-high tying six goals with five more draws.

She has scored three or more goals in three straight games and six times this season. In CAA games alone, Peterson ranks second with 3.25 goals per game and fifth with 3.75 points per contest.

This is the second Defensive Player of the Week honor in 2021 for Johnson and the third Rookie of the Week accolade for Peterson.

JMU has wrapped up the regular season and awaits the CAA committee to determine its seed for the CAA Championship, which the Dukes will host next month.

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