After consecutive losses on the road to St. John’s and Seton Hall last week, the Georgetown women’s basketball team returned to McDonough Arena last weekend for back-to-back games of conference play. On Friday, led by an outstanding performance from graduate student guard Dorothy Adomako, the Blue and Gray defeated the Creighton Blue Jays 62-53. The Hoyas followed that win with another 61-56 victory over Providence on Sunday.
The Hoyas (11-11, 5-6 Big East) got off to a slow start over Creighton (10-12, 4-7 Big East), failing to score in nearly the whole first four minutes of regulation. However, the play of Adomako propelled the Hoyas to a 12-7 lead by the end of the first quarter, which the team expanded to a 10-point lead by the end of the first half due to stellar play from the bench. Freshman guard Nikola Kovacikova hit two three-pointers midway through the quarter.
After halftime, the Blue and Gray continued to build on their lead, which grew as large as 17 points during the third quarter. Georgetown finished the quarter with a 45-30 cushion after a three-pointer from senior guard Brianna Jones dropped in with three seconds on the clock.
Georgetown maintained their lead throughout the final frame. A late-scoring run by Creighton cut the deficit to just four with 30 seconds remaining on the clock. However, Creighton brought too little, too late as Georgetown went on to win 62-53.
Georgetown’s leaders stepped up in order to claim the victory. Adomako finished with a double-double that included 23 points and 12 rebounds, while senior guard Dionna White finished with 13 points and eight rebounds of her own. The Hoyas were outrebounded by the Blue Jays 41-38, but they managed to shoot almost 10 percent better from the field. This performance was key to their success.
Several Hoyas also came up big on the defensive end, including junior guard Morgan Smith. Head Coach James Howard commented on her performance.
“Morgan Smith did a great job defending Audrey Faber and her defense really helped us, holding her to less than 20 points,” Howard said.
The Hoyas took to McDonough Arena again on Sunday against Providence (13-10, 5-6 Big East) in another crucial Big East matchup. In the first quarter, the Hoyas clung to a tight lead and finished the quarter with a two point lead. White scored 11 of the Blue and Gray’s first 19 points. After opening the second quarter with another quick five points from White, the Friars closed the gap and trailed by just one going into halftime.
The game would continue to be a hard-fought affair. The Hoyas found themselves leading 39-36 entering the final quarter. A quick run by Providence early in the fourth put the Hoyas down two with 6:28 left on the clock. However, behind efficient scoring from Adomako and graduate student guard Mikayla Venson, Georgetown went on to recapture the lead and win the game 61-56.
Adomako finished with 20 points, while Venson finished with 16. White also chipped in 19 points of her own. The Hoyas outrebounded the Friars 43-38, and despite shooting at a slightly lower percentage overall, the team managed to shoot 38.5 percent from behind the arc compared to Providence’s 28.6 percent.
After the contest, Howard was impressed with his team’s performance to close out the game.
“For us to be able to pull away and get the stops at the end I’m proud of them,” Howard said in a postgame interview with GUHoyas. “Fourth quarters have been our Achilles heel and tonight we were able to do that which will help us going forward.”
The women’s basketball team will return to hardwood Feb. 8 as they travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to face Marquette University as a part of a three-game road stretch.
