The Penn State Nittany Lions women's lacrosse team is an NCAA Division I college lacrosse team representing Pennsylvania State University as part of the Big Ten Conference.

Doherty was a 1997 graduate of the University of Maryland, where she won 3 national titles and amassed a 68–2 record playing lacrosse there.

In 2004 she became head coach at Towson, and the next year led the Tigers to their first NCAA tournament appearance in school history, which resulted in a one-goal loss to #5 Georgetown in the first round.

Doherty's Tigers made three more appearances in 2008, 2009, and 2010 before she moved to State College in 2011 to coach the Nittany Lions.

Penn State has made seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances under her watch from 2012 to 2018, including five quarterfinals and back-to-back Final Fours in 2016 and 2017.