The Georgetown women’s basketball team (14-14, 9-9 Big East) will play its quarterfinal in the 2018 Big East Tournament on Sunday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. The Hoyas have lost in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament in the past two seasons. This season, Georgetown finished sixth in Big East play, and have been slated to play the No. 3 seed Villanova Wildcats (12-7, 12-6 Big East).
The Hoyas enter the Big East Tournament after winning both games in their final weekend of regular season play. Georgetown took down Creighton (17-11, 11-7 Big East) by a score of 70-67, before dismantling Providence (10-21, 3-14 Big East) 74-48. The wins capped an impressive second half of Big East play for the Hoyas. After losing six of their first nine, Georgetown was able to win six of their final nine and end the season with a .500 record in conference play, and a six seed in the conference tournament, meaning they received a first round bye in the tournament.
The Hoyas have been led this season by All-Big East first team junior guard Dionna White, all-Big East honorable mention senior forward Cynthia Petke, and senior guard Mikayla Venson. White, who was also named Big East defensive player of the year, has averaged 18.5 points and almost three steals per game. Petke, who was also named Big East most improved player, is averaging a double-double with 13.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Venson is averaging 13.9 points per game, and is shooting 44.3 percent from beyond the arc.
The Hoyas will take on Villanova, who swept the Hoyas this year, winning the two matchups by a combined total of three points. The Wildcats entered conference play with only one loss and ranked No. 18 in the AP poll, but suffered six conference losses to finish behind Marquette (21-8, 15-3 Big East) and DePaul (23-7, 15-3 Big East) in the Big East. Villanova is led by all-Big East second team senior guard Alex Louin, who is averaging 11.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, all-Big East honorable mention sophomore forward Mary Gedaka, who is averaging 11.6 points per game, and sophomore guard Kelly Jenkot who is averaging 11.4 points per game.
This is the inaugural Big East Tournament at DePaul’s Wintrust Arena in downtown Chicago, and the game will mark the first postseason game as head coach for Georgetown Head Coach James Howard. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. central time, and the game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 2. Follow @GUVoiceSports for game day updates and breaking news.
