The 2008 season saw a young Blue Jay squad go 8-9, including wins over #16 Oregon and #19 Denver. Hopkins earned the third seed in the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament, falling in the semifinals to #9 Vanderbilt. Five players earned All-ALC honors, the most in one season since Hopkins began playing at the Division I level. Seniors Sarah Gallion, Kirby Houck and Lauren Schwarzmann led the way earning first team honors. The Blue Jays, who were ranked 20th in the IWCLA's final poll of the 2008 season, have been ranked in the final poll for nine consecutive seasons.

The 2004 to 2007 seasons were the most successful in the history of the Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse program, as the Blue Jays posted a 47-23 record against a lineup of nationally ranked teams and made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament. In 2007, Hopkins tied the school Division I record with 12 wins, finishing with a 12-8 record. The Blue Jays advanced to the first ever ALC title game, falling to eventual national champion Northwestern. Hopkins then made its third trip in four seasons to the NCAAs, advancing to the Elite 8 for the first time in school Division I history. Senior Mary Key led the nation in points for the third time, finishing with a school record 121 points. She was a finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy, was named the Attacker of the Year by the IWLCA and earned First Team All-America honors for the second consecutive season.

In 2006, Tucker guided Johns Hopkins to an 8-0 record to start the season as the Blue Jays climbed to #2 in the national polls. The team finished the season at 12-4 to tie the school Division I record for wins in a season. Key led the nation in scoring for the second consecutive season and was a nominee for the Tewaaraton Trophy. In 2005, Hopkins went 11-6 including a 14-10 win at #6 Georgetown in its final regular-season game. The win helped the Blue Jays earn their second straight berth in the NCAA Tournament, where they met the defending national champion, Virginia, in the first round. Hopkins led Virginia until the final minutes, but the Cavaliers pulled out a 10-8 win and eventually finished as the NCAA runners-up. Key ended the year as the nation's leading scorer in Division I, averaging 5.12 points per game.

A year earlier, the Blue Jays won a school Division I record 10 straight games to open the season and defeated four ranked teams, including #6 Notre Dame, the highest-ranked team ever defeated by Hopkins (the 2005 win over Georgetown matched that record). JHU also tied school Division I records for most wins and fewest losses in a season (12-5). Heidi Pearce became the third Hopkins player to earn All-America honors at the Division I level and the first Blue Jay selected to the first team.

Indicative of the steady improvement of the Hopkins women's lacrosse program, the 2004 season was a step up from 2003, when Tucker guided the Blue Jays to an 11-5 record that included a 12-2 win over #14 North Carolina in the final home game of the season. The Blue Jays finished the year ranked #17 in the Brine/IWLCA Poll, the fourth straight year they ended the season in the top 20. Tucker's 2002 squad finished 10-8 and advanced to the ECAC championship game for the third consecutive year. Hopkins won two games against ranked teams during that season, defeating #19 William and Mary 11-9 on March 9 and #13 Ohio State 11-10 on April 6.

The 2001 season was a benchmark as Tucker earned her 100th victory with a 13-9 win over #15 George Mason and two weeks later Hopkins won its first ECAC Championship as a Division I team, defeating Penn, 18-12, in the title game. The Blue Jays finished with an 11-6 record and a #17 ranking in the final Brine/IWLCA Poll.

A year earlier, Tucker led the 2000 Johns Hopkins team to its first Division I postseason appearance as it reached the ECAC final and concluded the season ranked 16th in the final IWLCA Poll with a 12-6 record. The 1999 Blue Jays posted a 10-4 mark in their inaugural Division I campaign, opening the season with four consecutive wins. At the Division III level, Tucker guided the Blue Jays to the brink of the NCAA championship game four times. In Tucker's debut season, Johns Hopkins finished with its best record to date, posting a 16-1 mark and advancing to the 1994 NCAA Division III semifinals. Tucker led the Blue Jays back to the semifinals in 1995 and 1997 and to the quarterfinals in 1998. In five years of play in the Centennial Conference, Hopkins posted a striking 49-1 record, won four conference titles and finished undefeated in conference play in each of its four championship seasons.

Tucker and her staff have been instrumental in the development of the Blue Jay student-athletes on and off the field, including two players, Mary Ann McGuire and Laura Ekas, who never played lacrosse prior to arriving at Hopkins. In 1997, McGuire became the first JHU women's lacrosse player to be named NCAA Division III Defensive Player of the Year while Ekas earned a role as a starter and captain.

Tucker has coached 23 IWLCA All-Americans, including IWLCA Division I All-America selections Key (2007, 2006 & 2005), Lacey-Leigh Hentz (2005), Pearce (2004), Danielle Maschuci (2000) and Jamie Larrimore (2001). In addition, she has coached one IWLCA Defensive Player of the Year and one Attacker of the Year, four Centennial Conference Players of the Year, one ALC Rookie of the Year, 59 all-conference selections and 72 all-conference academic selections.

Two of her former players, Beth Cariello Fifer `94 and Rebecca Savage Keller `94, have been inducted into the Johns Hopkins Athletic Hall of Fame. Cariello Fifer and Savage Keller were key members of the 1994 Blue Jay lacrosse team that enjoyed the greatest season in school history as the Blue Jays won their first 16 games, won the Centennial Conference title and advanced to the national semifinals. Savage Keller earned First Team All-America honors in each of her last two years and finished her career ranked first all-time in goals (177) and third in points (194). She still holds the program's all-time single-season goals record (77), set in 1994 when she earned Centennial Conference Player of the Year honors.

In addition, Jenn Ward `95 and Francine Brennan `96 will be inducted into the JHU Athletic Hall of Fame this spring. Ward, a three-time All-American, graduated as the program's all-time leader in goals (209), points (290) and ground balls (234). Ward still ranks in the top-five in JHU history in all three categories. The 1996 Centennial Conference Player of the Year and a two-time All-American, Brennan finished her career as Hopkins' all-time career assists leader with 120 helpers. She still ranks in the top-five all-time in assists (2nd • 120), points (4th • 260) and ground balls (4th • 223). In addition, Brennan holds the program's all-time single-season record for ground balls with 100.

After a successful career as an All-American lacrosse player at Loyola, Tucker broke into the coaching ranks at her alma mater as an assistant. She helped coach the nationally-ranked Greyhounds for four seasons, and her success as an assistant for a prominent Division I power led her across town to Hopkins when the women's lacrosse position became available in 1993. Tucker was inducted into the Loyola Athletic Hall of Fame in March 1998 and is involved with the promotion of women's lacrosse through camps, clinics and speaking engagements. She is the director of the Johns Hopkins Blue Jay Lacrosse Camp each summer as well as the Blue Jay Breakout Lacrosse Camp (formerly Elite 300), whose purpose is to bring together and instruct the nation's top high school girls' lacrosse players.

Tucker co-wrote a book with Maryalice Yakuchik entitled "The Baffled Parents' Guide To Coaching Girl's Lacrosse" which was published in February 2003. The pair collaborated again in writing "Women's Lacrosse: An Advanced Guide for Players and Coaches" which was published in February 2008.

Tucker is married to John Tucker, head coach of the Washington Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse. He is also the Director of Admissions for Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore. John was previously the head coach for the LA Riptide of MLL and was named the 2007 Brine Coach of the Year after guiding the Riptide to the MLL championship game. He has also coached at perennial prep power Gilman and Severn, and served as the athletic director at nearby Loyola Blakefield. John is a former Hopkins and United States World Team lacrosse standout. Both Janine and John were inducted into the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame in January 2003. The Tuckers have two sons, Ryan, a junior at Gilman, and Devin, a sophomore at Gilman.