After earning a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament, the No. 4 seeded Georgetown women’s basketball team squared off against rival Villanova and defeated the Wildcats 76-67 on March 10. The win comes just weeks after Villanova handed Georgetown its worst loss of the season, 91-43. The next day the Hoyas faced top-seeded Marquette, who defeated St. John’s by more than 30 points in the quarterfinal matchup March 10. The Hoyas fought admirably against the Golden Eagles, the No. 17 ranked team in the country, but ultimately fell 75-62.

Against Villanova (18-12, 9-9 Big East), the first half’s play suggested that the game would be a back-and-forth battle between two teams that were evenly matched for the most part, despite what their previous encounters may have indicated. At the end of the first quarter, Georgetown (16-15, 9-9 Big East) found themselves in a four point hole,19-15, following a late 6-0 run by the Wildcats.

The level of competition remained high in the second quarter as both teams exchanged baskets that kept the game close. However, Villanova created a degree of separation late in the quarter, sparked initially by a 5-0 run to give itself a 34-29 lead halfway through the second. That lead jumped to seven later in the period before a buzzer-beating three-pointer by senior guard Dionna White whittled the deficit down to 41-38 by halftime.

In the second half, the Hoyas got the chance to create breathing room. White and graduate student forward Dorothy Adomako played a large role in building the Hoya lead, as the two provided defensive stops as well as timely buckets that proved instrumental in the team outscoring Villanova 29-14 in the period.

With the Hoyas leading 67-56 at the start of the final period, Georgetown kept up their level of play on both ends of the floor and walked away with the 76-67 win. When the final horn sounded, White and Adomako had tallied game-high totals for Georgetown, posting 27 and 25 points each.

Less than 24 hours later, Georgetown took on Marquette (26-7, 15-3 Big East) for the chance to play in the Big East championship tournament. The semifinal matchup marked the second consecutive year in which the Hoyas had advanced this far in the conference tournament — a milestone they have not accomplished since 1999. While the Hoyas expected the game against the Golden Eagles would provide a considerable challenge, they were confident in their abilities coming off two previous matchups against the team this season, where they performed strongly.

Out of the gates, the game featured a number of runs by both teams, first by Marquette, then Georgetown and then Marquette again that culminated in a 22-12 gap in favor of Marquette. The final run was ultimately the biggest, as Marquette closed the quarter by outscoring Georgetown 13-0 to grab ahold of the lead once again.

The deficit for the Hoyas quickly ballooned to 17 at the beginning of the second quarter before Head Coach James Howard called for time. Out of the break, Adomako answered the bell with nine points over the course of the next several minutes. Graduate student guard Mikayla Venson also got involved, as she buried a three-pointer straight after Adomako. A jumper from White capped off a 14-3 for the Hoyas’ run to end the half. As both teams entered the locker room, the Blue and Gray trailed 39-33.

Georgetown opened up the second half strongly. White quickly stole the ball and dished to Adomako for the and-one layup to make it a one-possession game. Marquette would respond, however, and grew their lead back to 52-42 shortly thereafter. The Hoyas went cold in the ensuing minutes while the Golden Eagles heated up from three-point range, and after just a few possessions, the Hoyas found themselves in a 62-42 hole at the end of the third.

The Hoya women would not go away in the fourth, as they chipped away at the Golden Eagles’ double-digit lead twice, which forced the Golden Eagles to burn two timeouts. White and Venson were the catalysts this time, reducing the lead to nine after a 12-0 Georgetown spree. Marquette would not let the game get much closer than this, however, and protected their lead for the remainder of the quarter to hand Georgetown the 75-62 loss.

Adomako and White backed up their impressive offensive performances against Villanova with 27 and 16 point efforts, respectively, which yet again led the team. Venson tallied nine points of her own, many of which aided timely Georgetown runs.

Howard praised the team’s resilience despite the loss.

“Marquette gave us some problems, but I really was impressed with the fight in our players. We went down about 20, and cut it to one in the second half before they made another run, as veteran teams do. They’re the No. 17 ranked team in the country for a reason, but I’m very proud of our young women,” Howard said.

The veteran leadership refused to fold in the face of adversity, Adomako said about the team’s fight after the game to the media.

“Being seniors and being the leaders, we just couldn’t give up. We had to leave it all on the court. It’s our last game playing here in Chicago, so we really had to go out there and just leave it out there on the court,” Adomako said.

Following their performance in the tournament, the Hoyas await their postseason future, which is scheduled to be announced March 18.