The Georgetown women’s basketball team (10-9, 3-6 Big East) closed out the first half of its conference schedule with a 57-51 road victory against Villanova (12-7, 6-3 Big East). The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Hoyas.

“It feels great to beat Villanova at Villanova. We definitely needed it. The four-game losing streak was a tough one because those were teams that we knew we could have beat,” sophomore guard Dorothy Adomako said.

Villanova entered the matchup having won four straight games — three of which were against the top teams in the Big East conference. The Wildcats defeated No. 24 DePaul (16-6, 8-1 Big East) on the road before earning victories over Seton Hall (16-4, 6-3 Big East) and St. John’s (16-4, 7-2 Big East) — both of which have been ranked among the best 25 teams in the country this season.

“Beating Villanova was great. They beat Seton Hall, DePaul, St. John’s — all the top teams. So just knowing that we beat them is a great way to start the second half of Big East play,” Adomako said.

The Wildcats’ momentum was on display at the outset of the contest. Villanova jumped out to a lead and managed to extend its advantage to seven points with 4:32 remaining in the first quarter.
However, the Hoyas were determined not to let the game slip away early. Georgetown turned up its defensive intensity and managed to hold Villanova scoreless for the last four minutes of the opening period, while on the offensive end, freshman guard Dionna White poured in eight straight points to give her team a 14-13 lead at the end of the quarter.

“We had to be able to score on the offensive end while getting stops on the defensive end. That was our big focus. We knew we couldn’t be trading baskets with them,” senior guard/forward Logan Battle said.

A three pointer from Battle to open the second quarter gave the Hoyas their largest lead of the game. But Villanova answered back, as senior guard Caroline Coyer hit a three-pointer of her own to cut Georgetown’s lead to one. Battle hit a layup on the team’s next offensive possession to keep the Hoyas in control with 7:05 remaining in the first half.

But following Battle’s layup, Georgetown’s offense stalled. The Hoyas committed turnovers on three consecutive offensive possessions and were held scoreless for more than four minutes. On the defensive end, Georgetown gave up back-to-back three-pointers and found itself trailing by seven with 4:04 remaining in the half.

The Hoyas regrouped during a 30-second timeout and came out of the break firing, scoring seven straight points to tie the score with 54 seconds left before halftime. A jumper by Villanova with only two seconds on the clock gave the home team a 28-26 advantage going into the locker room.

After the break, it was all Georgetown in the third quarter. A three pointer from sophomore guard Dorothy Adomako gave the Hoyas the lead with 6:01 remaining in the period. Georgetown managed to hold on to that lead for the rest of the quarter, extending it to as many as nine points. Heading into the final quarter, the Hoyas led 44-37.

“[Villanova] is a very disciplined offensive team. As the other team, you have to be very disciplined to guard them, and that is something that we really tried to do in the third quarter,” Battle said.

Despite Georgetown’s dominant third quarter, Villanova managed to rally and battled back in the fourth quarter, reclaiming the lead with 6:58 left in the contest. The Wildcats held a narrow advantage for the majority of the final period, but the Hoyas would not go down without a fight. Two made free throws by White with 1:37 on the clock gave the Hoyas a one-point lead.

A defensive stop, followed by a made jumper from sophomore guard DiDi Burton extended Georgetown’s lead to three with only 46 seconds remaining. The Hoyas went 5-6 from the free throw line down the stretch as part of an 11-2 run to close out the game. When the final buzzer sounded, Georgetown led by six.

“We made big plays down the stretch,” Head Coach Natasha Adair said. “They stepped up. There was ice in their veins. There weren’t any jitters. I watched them walk to the [free-throw] line with confidence. Our team wanted this. We are putting ourselves in a great position to continue making this season a very special season,” Adair said.

Georgetown was paced by White, who recorded the first double-double of her collegiate career. White scored a game-high 20 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Adomako added 13 points and Battle chipped in 12 points off the bench.

The Hoyas will be back in action Friday against the Providence Friars (4-15, 0-9 Big East), as they begin the second half of their conference schedule. In this season’s previous matchup between the two teams, Georgetown came away with a 63-53 victory.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Providence, R.I.