WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University women's basketball team was down at the half, but fought back to defeat the Providence College Friars (19-16) 53-46 on Tuesday in the third round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). With the victory, the Hoyas (19-15) advance to the WNIT quarterfinals for just the second time in program history with the first coming in 2009. It also marks GU's third win over Providence this season.
 
Graduate student guard Dorothy Adomako (Midlothian, Va. / Cosby) led the way with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double.  Senior guard Dionna White (Baltimore, Md. / Milford Mill) added 19 points and eight rebounds as well as four assists as she hit three 3-pointers in the victory.
 
Georgetown outrebounded Providence 45-43 but shot just 26.9 percent (18 of 67) from the field.  The defense forced 15 Friar turnovers on nine steals and allowed PC 34.6 percent (18 of 52) shooting from the field.
 
Freshman guard Nikola Kovacikova (Levice, Slovakia / UKF Nitra) opened the scoring with a bucket, but the Friars quickly answered with a pair of free throws.  Both teams struggled from the field in the first quarter until PC managed a small run to move ahead by four.  Senior guard Brianna Jones (North Babylon, N.Y. / North Babylon) came right back and knocked down a trey to cut it to one and then, following another drought, Adomako connected on a 3-pointer to make it 12-10 in favor of the Blue & Gray. 
 
Providence would respond with a triple at the 1:07 mark, but a free throw from White tied the game at one at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Friars would hit a 3-pointer to begin the second stanza.  Georgetown answered, but PC went on an 8-0 run as the Blue & Gray struggled to put the ball in the basket to take a 24-15 lead.  White would end the momentum with a trey, but Providence managed a jumper on the other end.  White's three at 4:27 would be GU's final points of the quarter as GU went into the half trailing 28-18.
 
Adomako began the third period with a jumper to spark a 9-2 run capped off by a 3-pointer from White to cut the deficit to three 30-27.  With 3:48 remaining in the third, Adomako connected from the charity stripe before a huge triple from Kovacikova put the Blue & Gray on top 31-30.  It was a 13-2 run spanning almost the entire quarter as GU battled to get back in the game.  Jovana Nogic would score for PC, but White answered with another 3-pointer to put the Hoyas ahead by two.  Providence scored in the final minute to tie the game at 34 heading into the final period.
 
It was Kovacikova again who scored to begin the last stanza of play and put GU on top.  Adomako added back-to-back scores for the 6-0 run to get things going.  Providence tied it back up on two more occasions, but a pair of free throws from White would put the Blue & Gray ahead for good.  Over the final three minutes, Georgetown held off every late surge to come away with the 53-46 victory.
 
This marks Georgetown's fourth-consecutive postseason berth, and the second under Head Coach James Howard. They have now matched the furthest the Hoyas have gone appearing in the 2009 WNIT quarterfinals before falling to Boston College 65-56. Overall, this is the ninth appearance in the WNIT for the Blue & Gray, and the program is 7-8 all-time in the postseason tournament.
 
The Hoyas will now face the winner of James Madison and Virginia Tech.  That will be played on Thursday and quarterfinal details will be announced later that evening.