WASHINGTON – The No. 22 Georgetown University women's lacrosse squad (1-0) will host the No. 11 Towson University Tigers in GU's home opener on Saturday Cooper Field. The opening draw is scheduled for 3 p.m. and it will be the second game in a doubleheader with the Hoya men. Live stats and a webcast ($) will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.
 
Senior Francesca Whitehurst (Baltimore, Md./Roland Park Country School) was named the BIG EAST Midfielder of the Week on Tuesday when the league announced its first set of weekly awards for the 2019 season.  Additionally, senior attacker Taylor Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker) earned a spot on the weekly honor roll.
 
Whitehurst shined in the Hoyas' season-opening 12-9 win at Saint Joseph's, totaling three goals, an assist, two ground balls and two draw controls. Tied at 6-6 early in the second half, Whitehurst scored off a feed from Gebhardt to give No. 22 Georgetown a 7-6 advantage with 27:45 to play and the Hoyas never trailed again, leading by as many as five down the stretch. The Hoyas outshot Saint Joseph's 33-20 and limited the Hawks to just nine second-half shots.
 
Gebhardt had a single-game high last week of seven points in the SJU win. The senior tallied three goals and four assists while adding a caused turnover. 
 
Along with Whitehurst and Gebhardt's efforts against the Hawks, senior attacker Morgan Ryan (Maplewood, N.J. / Oak Knoll School) added a hat trick. Junior midfielder Natalia Lynch (Smithtown, N.Y. / Smithtown West) and freshman midfielder Jordyn Sabourin (Catonsville, Md. / Notre Dame Prep) pulled in four draw controls apiece and junior defender Noelle Peragine (Northport, N.Y. / Northport) had six caused turnovers in the contest.
 
The Hoyas outshot the Hawks 33-20 and pulled in 12 draw controls to SJU's 10. The Blue & Gray forced 18 Saint Joe's turnovers, but committed 20 in the contest. GU was 4 of 11 on free position shots and junior Haelle Chomo (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) picked up the win with eight saves in the cage.
 
Towson is coming off of a tough 13-7 loss in the season opener to No. 12 Penn State.  The Tigers were paced by sophomore Kaitlin Thornton who had three goals and one assist. Natalie Sulmonte and Annie Sachs had two goals each.  Defender Olivia Conte was selected as the CAA Preseason Player of the Year and joined three of her teammates on the All-CAA Preseason Team.  The Tigers were selected to finish second in the CAA Preseason Poll.
 
The Hoyas are 10-12 all-time against the Tigers and 7-7 at home.  Last year, GU fell by a score of 21-13 in Maryland.  Gebhardt led the way with four goals, while Michaela Bruno (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) added three goals and an assist.   The season prior, the Blue & Gray lost by a score of 13-8 at Cooper Field.  The squads have met every year since 2013 with Towson holding a 5-1 series advantage.
 
This will be the first ranked opponent of the season for the Hoyas.  Admission for both games of the doubleheader will be free.