Hot off their Jan. 18 takedown of the DePaul Blue Demons, the Georgetown University women’s basketball team dominated wire-to-wire in their 61-51 away victory against the Providence College Friars. Junior guard Kelsey Ransom provided a stellar showing, leading the Hoyas with 25 points and 10 rebounds to seal Georgetown’s third Big East win of the season. 

Turnovers proved to be Providence’s (12-10, 3-8 Big East) downfall at the Jan. 21 matchup. The Friars turned the ball over 23 times compared to Georgetown’s 16, though they dominated the charity stripe; the Friars shot 15 more free throws than the Hoyas (11-9, 4-7 Big East). 

While neither team shot at a particularly efficient rate, the Hoyas converted 42.2% of their field goals compared to the Friars’ 34.7% — which proved to be enough, as Georgetown led from the first to the final buzzer.

The Hoyas jumped out to an early lead, capped by a successful jumper by junior forward Jada Claude to put Georgetown up 6-0 with 6:23 left in the first quarter. The Friars briefly closed the gap to 6-4 but those would be the only points scored by Providence in the quarter due to Georgetown’s oppressive defense. The Hoyas entered the second quarter with a commanding 16-4 lead. 

Providence quickly fired back, though, opening the second quarter with an 8-0 run to bring its 12-point deficit down to 4 points at 16-12. First-year guard Kennedy Fauntleroy ended the Friars’ run with a jumper, but a few moments later, Providence guard Grace Efosa nailed a free throw after senior forward Graceann Bennett fouled her on a successful layup. Efosa propelled the Friars to just a 3-point deficit with 6:11 left in the second quarter, but this would be the closest Providence would get to catching up with Georgetown, as a bucket from Ransom ended the Friars’ run. The two teams ended up trading buckets for the remainder of the quarter, and the Hoyas entered halftime with a 26-20 lead.

Just like they started the first half, the Hoyas came out of the locker room on fire. Georgetown opened the third quarter with a 9-1 run, pushing its lead to 35-21 just over two minutes into the quarter. By the time graduate guard Kristina Moore’s 3-point shot sailed through the net with three seconds left on the clock, the Hoyas had a commanding 12-point lead to carry into the final quarter. 

Once again, the Hoyas started the fourth quarter blazing, handing the Friars a 14-4 run. After a jumper from Fauntleroy, Georgetown solidified an insurmountable 61-39 lead. Although Georgetown did not score in the final 3:43, its prior scoring hustle proved sufficient to fend off a determined 12-point Providence run. Although the Friars won the final quarter 16-14, the final buzzer sounded with a 10-point victory for the Hoyas.

The victory would not have been possible without the outstanding performances from Georgetown’s star guards. In addition to Ransom’s standout performance, Fauntleroy added 17 points and 5 rebounds of her own to complete the one-two punch from the Georgetown back court. 

Georgetown’s guard play is essential to the Hoyas’ success this season, according to Head Coach James Howard.

“Our two guards were very effective tonight and when they are scoring, we typically win,” Howard said in a Georgetown Athletics press release. 

In addition to Ransom and Fauntleroy’s work on the offensive end, Howard credited the Hoyas’ team defense as a critical component of the win. 

“I was proud of our team, especially in that fourth quarter where we stretched the lead to 20,” Howard said in the same release. “To beat a team the caliber of Providence, who has some good wins this year, on the road you need solid defense and I think our scout was great in doing that.”

With the win, the Hoyas are once again over .500. This win over Providence gives the Hoyas two sorely needed back-to-back Big East wins. Prior to beating DePaul, Georgetown had lost six of its seven Big East games. 

The Hoyas rode their winning momentum to defeat the Seton Hall Pirates (13-7, 6-4 Big East) 74-66 on Jan. 25 at McDonough Arena, extending their Big East winning streak to three. Georgetown now sits in eighth place in the Big East.

The Hoyas will next face the Creighton Bluejays (13-6, 7-4 Big East) on Jan. 28 at 1 p.m. in McDonough Arena. A win for the Hoyas would go far in building momentum for the impending Big East tournament, which is slated to begin March 3