The Georgetown University women’s basketball team (9-9, 2-5 Big East) secured a comfortable win up north against the Providence College Friars (9-12, 2-6 Big East) Jan. 18 with an impressive 60-48 score.
The Hoyas headed into this game with a point to prove after a bad run of form saw them lose their last four games against Butler University (12-8, 2-5 Big East), the University of Connecticut (UConn) (17-2, 8-0 Big East), Villanova University (10-9, 4-3 Big East) and Seton Hall University (13-5, 5-2 Big East). The win helped the Hoyas take a big step toward turning their season around and securing both their second conference win in 8 games and their ninth win overall.
The first quarter started off strongly for Georgetown, who took a swift 12-0 lead minutes into the game. Junior guard Victoria Rivera signaled her intent early on by sinking two consecutive 3-pointers, while senior center Ariel Jenkins converted a pair of doubles. On Providence’s end, the Friars struggled to put away open threes and routine lay-ups throughout the quarter, while the Hoyas came out firing.
Georgetown continued hitting the mark on almost every attack as the quarter went on, while the Providence defense struggled to contain the Hoyas. While the Friars slowly started to mount a response, the Hoyas owned the court with their stellar attacking play and rock-hard defense.
The pressure seemingly got to Providence as they started to commit more fouls throughout the quarter, resulting in more scoring opportunities for Georgetown at the free-throw line, which they converted with ease. At the end of the first quarter, the Hoyas were up 24-10, with a mountain to climb for the Friars heading into the second.
Georgetown continued to take advantage of their scoring opportunities. At the same time, Providence slowly grew into the game, scoring 16 points in the quarter to cut Georgetown’s lead to 9 points at the half. Despite the game getting closer, the Hoyas stayed confident in their abilities.
The third quarter followed a similar pattern, with both Georgetown and Providence firing on all cylinders. Despite a step up in Providence’s conversion rate, Georgetown continued to overpower the Friars during their attacking plays. Heading into the end of the third quarter, the Hoyas maintained their double-digit lead, leading Providence 52-37.
The final quarter saw Providence’s best maneuvers of the game as they began to convert their chances more consistently while the Hoyas fell short of multiple opportunities to put the game out of the Friars’ reach. While Providence cut Georgetown’s lead down to 9 at one point, the Hoyas did just enough to earn a 60-48 away win in Providence, R.I.
This win leaves Georgetown in 8th place in the Big East conference. Rivera, one of the game’s standout players, racked up a total of 19 points.
The Hoyas will look to take the momentum of the win into their next Big East game against second-to-bottom St. John’s University (11-7, 1-6 Big East) at McDonough Arena on Jan. 22.