Following a strong fourth quarter performance, the Georgetown women’s basketball team (8-6, 2-1 Big East) defeated Providence (8-7, 0-3 Big East), 68-52, on Friday night at Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I.
Graduate student guard Dorothy Adomako led the scoring early for the Hoyas, putting Georgetown’s first seven points on the board. A 6-0 run brought the Hoyas up 13-8 with just over a minute left in the first quarter, but the Friars responded with a 5-0 run of their own. The teams ended the quarter tied, 13-13.
The Friars continued to pull ahead in the second quarter with another 5-0 run, gaining a 18-13 lead. But a free throw from Adomako and two layups from senior guard Dionna White tied the game back up at 18-18. Making just 3-of-9 from the line in the second quarter, the Hoyas’ dismal free throw performance played a role in preventing them from gaining a greater edge. Providence continued to put up a tough fight, but the Hoyas ended the quarter up 28-26.
Providence senior guard Jovana Novic opened the second half with a 3-pointer to put her team back in the lead.
“We tried to keep a body on her, and know where she is at all times,” Georgetown head coach James Howard said of containing Novic defensively. “She’s such a good shooter, if you give her an inch, she can knock it down. So it was something we worked on doing shootarounds and practice, to see if we could slow her rhythm down.”
Georgetown graduate student guard Mikayla Venson responded with a three-point play of her own, drawing a foul on a layup and making the and-one. A 7-0 run brought Providence up 42-36, but seven points from White helped to settle the score. The third quarter ended tied up once again, 45-45.
Georgetown quickly began to dominate in the fourth quarter, opening with a 13-0 run. The Hoyas’ strong defensive performance permitted the Friars to score only seven points in the fourth quarter, not enough to chip away at the Hoyas’ growing lead. The Hoyas ended up pulling ahead into a comfortable double-digit lead, and the game ended 68-52.
“Anytime we just lock in and we play defensively as a team, I think we have success,” Howard said.
White led the Hoyas with 24 points and 8 rebounds, continuing her impressive conference performance as reigning Big East Player of the Week and Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week. Adomako added 20 points and 12 rebounds, notching her third double-double of the season. Novic led the Friars with 15 points and 5 rebounds.
While White and Adomako were the stars of the night, Howard also emphasized the contributions of freshman guard Nikola Kovacikova and senior guard Brianna Jones on the defensive end which allowed them to pull ahead in the fourth quarter.
“I thought Nikola came in and gave us some really good defense, she’s very active, she’s fast, she’s running off the screens, she’s working,” he said. “And I don’t know if a lot of people at home watching or listening knew the effect that Brianna Jones had defensively, because of her voice on the floor—when she was starting to talk, which started a chain reaction of communication.”
The Friars have had a rough start to conference play so far, coming off of two considerable losses to nationally-ranked opponents, No. 20 Marquette (12-3, 3-0 Big East) and No. 24 DePaul (10-5, 1-2 Big East). Still, Howard notes that Providence’s tough fight in this game points to the strength of the conference as a whole.
“The Big East is tough from top to bottom,” Howard said. “On any given night, you’re gonna look at who’s on the bottom, they’re gonna beat someone.”
The Hoyas will continue Big East conference play on Sunday at Creighton (7-7, 1-2 Big East). Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network, and live stats will be available at www.guhoyas.com. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for live updates and coverage of all winter sports at Georgetown.
