Amonte Hiller's stunning success as the architect of the Northwestern Lacrosse program comes on the heels of one of the most outstanding playing careers the sport has ever seen. The Massachusetts native won back-to-back national player of the year awards while starring for the University of Maryland, and continued her career as a standout for the United States National Team for nearly a decade. In 2012, Amonte Hiller reached the pinnacle of her sport when she was inducted into the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame in recognition of her achievements as a player.

Northwestern's rapid rise to national prominence under Amonte Hiller — particularly in an area of the country rarely associated with women's lacrosse — has caught the eyes of many, in and out of lacrosse. In 2011, ESPN The Magazine named Amonte Hiller one of the 20 best recruiters across all college sports, joining the likes of other multiple-time NCAA champion coaches Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (men's basketball) and Anson Dorrance of North Carolina (women's soccer). In 2012, the Big Ten Network profiled the NU head coach as one of 12 Big Ten coaching icons in the conference's history, putting her in the company of Big Ten legends such as Bobby Knight (Indiana), Bo Schembechler (Michigan) and Dan Gable (Iowa).

Amonte Hiller was named to Crain's Chicago Business' prestigious "40 Under 40" list for the 2013 calendar year, paying tribute to her relentless efforts to grow participation in and visibility of women's lacrosse at all levels in the Midwest.

The 2011 and 2012 championship seasons each encapsulated all that Amonte Hiller brings to the table as head coach: strong recruiting, tireless preparation, in-season motivation and in-game strategy.

In 2011 — a year in which it began the season without the title of defending national champion for the first time since 2005 — Northwestern reeled off 12-straight victories to open its schedule before suffering consecutive midseason losses that prompted Amonte Hiller to reinvent her team. After that, the 'Cats would capture the ALC Tournament by avenging one of those losses against top-seeded Florida, and continued to peak entering NCAA Tournament play. On championship weekend, Northwestern downed No. 3 North Carolina in the semifinals, 11-10, and then used a flawless defensive game plan to hold off top-ranked Maryland in the championship game, 8-7, avenging its 2010 title game loss to the Terps and bringing the trophy back to Evanston.