WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University women's basketball team (16-13) began the trek to Piscataway, N.J. this afternoon to open play in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) against Rutgers University (18-14) on Thursday evening. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and live stats and a subscription-based web stream will be available at www.guhoyas.com.

This marks Georgetown's first postseason berth since reaching the NCAA Tournament Second Round in 2012. The Blue & Gray was last in the WNIT in 2009, advancing as far as the quarterfinals. Overall, this is the sixth appearance in the WNIT for the Hoyas, who are 4-5 all-time in the postseason tournament.

Under Head Coach Natasha Adair, in her second season, the GU earned its first bye at the BIG EAST Tournament since 2012, winning two games over the final weekend to earn the fifth seed. The Blue & Gray has achieved one of the top turnarounds in Division I this season, increasing its win total by 12 thus far, the seventh-most in the country. Of the nine programs with a win improvement of at least 12 this year, Georgetown is the only school with a strength of schedule in the top 100 (88).

Georgetown is led by its backcourt duo of Dionna White (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill) and Dorothy Adomako (Midlothian, Va./Cosby), who were both named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. White was also a unanimous selection to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team.

White is leading the Hoyas in scoring with 14.5 ppg and has posted team highs of 4.2 apg and 2.6 spg and is second on the squad with 6.1 rpg. She is among the BIG EAST leaders in all four categories, ranking first in steals, fifth in assists, sixth in scoring and 12th in rebounds. Adomako ranks second on the Hoyas with 14.4 ppg, and leads the team with 6.2 rpg. After missing three games in February, Adomako returned to average 16.3 ppg and 8.3 rpg over the final four regular season games.

Georgetown is shooting 39.2 percent on the season while allowing opponents a BIG EAST-best 36.7 percent. GU leads the league in rebounding (42.6 rpg) and rebounding margin (+5.1), while ranking second in blocks (5.2 bpg) and third in steals (8.3 spg).

Georgetown is one of six BIG EAST teams participating in postseason play. Both Villanova and Creighton will join the Hoyas in the WNIT while DePaul, St. John's and Seton Hall earned spots in the NCAA Tournament.

Rutgers enters Thursday's contest with an 18-14 overall mark and finished Big Ten play at 8-10. The 10th-seeded Scarlet Knights upset seventh seeded Nebraska, 66-63, in a come-from-behind victory in the Big Ten Tournament second round before RU's tournament run was halted in the quarterfinals by second seeded Ohio State, 73-58. RU is led by Second Team All-Big Ten honorees Kahleah Copper and Tyler Scaife. Scaife leads Rutgers at 17.6 points per game. Copper, the 2014 WNIT MVP, is adding in 17.5 points per game along with a team-leading 8.0 rebounds per game. Rutgers also features Honorable Mention All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Defensive Team honoree Rachel Hollivay. Hollivay is averaging 7.3 points per game and is the Scarlet Knights' all-time leading shot blocker (329).

The Hoyas are 4-18 all-time against the Scarlet Knights, with all 22 meetings when Rutgers was a member of the BIG EAST Conference. The two teams last met during the 2012-13 season, a 55-47 Rutgers win in Piscataway, before the Scarlet Knights departed for the Big Ten. Georgetown last won during the 2011-12 season, a 54-36 win at McDonough Arena.