MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The No. 24 Georgetown University women's lacrosse team fell 14-12 to the Marquette University Golden Eagles (9-8, 3-2 BIG EAST) Saturday afternoon at the seasonal dome at Valley Fields in both squads' regular season finale.  With the loss, the Hoyas complete the regular season with a mark of 9-8 overall and 3-2 in BIG EAST Conference play earning the Hoyas the third overall seed in the BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep.
 
"When one team wants it more than the other, that team usually wins and today that was the case," said Georgetown Head Coach Ricky Fried.  "Give Marquette a lot of credit, they played harder than we did.  We had our opportunities, but as far as we're concerned, this game is over and we have to get ready for Thursday."
 
Junior attacker Michaela Bruno (Garden City, N.Y. / Garden City) led the way with four goals on the afternoon.  Senior attacker Taylor Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker) added a hat trick, and senior attacker Morgan Ryan (Maplewood, N.J. / Oak Knoll School) managed two to her credit.  Junior attacker Emily Ehle (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / Christian Brothers Academy) tallied one goal along with a pair of assists, and senior midfielder Francesca Whitehurst (Baltimore, Md. / Roland Park Country School) was dominant in the middle of the field with two goals, an assist and eight draw controls.
 
Georgetown outshot Marquette 49-39, and pulled in 16 draw controls to MU's 12.  GU forced 14 turnovers while committing just 12.  In the cage, senior Haelle Chomo (Naples, Fla. / Barron Collier) took the loss despite a solid afternoon with 12 saves.
 
Ryan struck first before Gebhardt added her first of the afternoon on an unassisted tally.  Marquette answered with one of its own, but Bruno came down and took her defender one-on-one to bury it making the score 3-1.  Following an eight-minute drought, the Golden Eagles added one more to cut the lead to one and then added another to tie it up at three on a scrum in front of the cage.
 
Georgetown quickly regained the advantage as Gebhardt fired on the right side past the keeper to spark a 4-0 run.  Bruno scored a solo goal and then Whitehurst added back-to-back free position goals as the Hoyas were rolling. 
 
The Golden Eagles managed two of their own to cut it to two, 7-5, which would stand as the score at the break.
 
Whitehurst found Gebhardt for an early goal to begin the second half.  Bruno followed that up with a solo shot, but the Golden Eagles matched it on the next possession sparking a 4-0 run to tie the game at nine at the 20:47 mark.  Ehle would take matters into her own hands coming from behind the goal and firing a laser to stop the run and give the Hoyas the lead 10-9.
 
Bruno followed that up with her fourth of the afternoon, but a 2-0 Marquette run tied the game at 11 with 11:02 left to play.  A free position goal from Ryan bounced in, but it would be a battle of the final 10 minutes as MU matched right away.  Marquette had three-consecutive free position attempts, but Chomo and the defense stood strong and weathered the storm to keep it tied at 12.
 
Following an MU timeout, the Golden Eagles had another free position and connected to take the first lead of the game with 7:18 left to play.  They would add one more and GU would not find the answer in the final minutes to fall 14-12.     
 
The BIG EAST Championship slated for May 2 and 4 in Milwaukee.  The Hoyas will face second-seeded Marquette on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.  The game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network and live stats will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.  This marks GU's13th-consecutive appearance in the postseason tournament making the Blue & Gray the only team in the league to appear in every tournament since its inception.