CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Georgetown University women's basketball team saw a career-high 38-point effort from Dionna White (Baltimore, Md. / Milford Mill) lead the Hoyas past the Harvard University Crimson (17-13) 70-65 Sunday afternoon in the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) at Lavietes Pavilion. With the win, the Hoyas improve to 18-15 on the season and advance to the third round of the tournament for the first time since 2009.
 
"Dionna has been carrying us all year and without her ability to score, to rebound and to defend we would not be where we are right now," said Georgetown Head Coach James Howard.  "Tonight she gave us what we needed to win and she's someone we're going to miss.  She scored 2,000 points for a reason, and if you think about everything she's accomplished over her career you know that's Dionna White."
 
Along with her career high performance, White added 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals.  She was also an impressive 15 of 16 at the line. Freshman guard Nikola Kovacikova (Levice, Slovakia / UKF Nitra) was the other Hoya in double figures with 12 points, and graduate student guard Dorothy Adomako (Midlothian, Va. / Cosby) pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with eight points in the contest. 
 
Georgetown outrebounded Harvard 42-38 and shot 39.3 percent (22 of 56) from the field.  The defense forced 10 Crimson turnovers on six steals and allowed Harvard 36.8 percent (25 of 68) shooting from the field.
 
White opened the scoring with a put back which sparked a 6-0 run as the defense held the Crimson scoreless for the first four minutes of the contest.  Harvard would answer right back with a 6-0 run of its own, but Kovacikova went on an 8-2 run on her own with back-to-back 3-pointers as she was feeling it from beyond the arc.  Harvard scored late to make it 16-11 at the end of the first.
 
Harvard began the second stanza with a 3-pointer from the top of the key.  White answered with a bucket to manage a quick 6-0 run as GU was solid on offense and defense.  The Crimson managed one free throw, but White wasn't finished as she nailed two free throws and then got a rebound sending it down the court to a streaking Morgan Smith (Upper Marlboro, Md. / Riverdale Baptist) for the easy layup to make it 26-15 and force a Harvard timeout.
 
The Crimson scored out of the timeout, but it didn't slow Georgetown's momentum.  White would continue to counter on each Harvard basket as the Blue & Gray kept it at a double-digit advantage for the remainder of the half going into the locker room leading 37-26 and White with 19 in the game to that point.
 
Adomako knocked down a free throw to begin the second half, but Harvard wasn't going away quietly with a 6-0 run to force a Georgetown timeout.  White would answer out of the timeout, but the momentum swung to Harvard with a 7-0 run to cut the GU lead to five 42-37.  White hit a pair of free throws, but on the next possession, she picked up her fourth foul being forced to the bench.
 
The Crimson would keep pushing and a long 3-pointer made it a four-point game with three minutes left in the third.  With White back in the game, she spun in the lane for a bucket as Georgetown led 53-47 at the end of the third.
 
White dominated the fourth quarter as she drew a foul on GU's first four possessions to go 7 of 8 at the charity stripe.  Harvard would continue to answer as Georgetown clung to the two-possession advantage.  Midway through the half, the Crimson dumped it inside again for the bucket to pull within two, 64-62, and force Howard to call timeout. 
 
With the crowd going wild, Harvard came up with two stops and hit a free throw as well as a layup to take its first lead of the game as GU called another timeout.  The defense came up with two big stops, but Georgetown could not find an answer on offense.  Howard called his final timeout with 1:17 left in regulation to set up a play, but the shot clanged out.  On the other end, Harvard set up a play and the long rebound went to White on the break.
 
The senior took it herself and laid it in with defenders on her to put the Hoyas ahead 66-65.  Harvard had a chance at a shot, but it was blocked by senior guard Brianna Jones (North Babylon, N.Y. / North Babylon / Louisville) and Kovacikova.  Jones was fouled and nailed both shots to put the Hoyas ahead 68-65. 
 
With 16 seconds to go in the game and a three-point Hoya lead, Harvard called timeout to set up a play.  The three went up and all 5'5" of White managed to go with it for a monstrous block.  Jones came down with it and passed it to White who was fouled where she nailed two free throws to make the 70-65 final.
 
The Hoyas will travel to Providence on Tuesday evening for a 7 p.m. third round matchup.  Live stats and a webcast will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.