MILWAUKEE – The third-seeded Georgetown University women's lacrosse team will face the second-seeded Marquette University Golden Eagles in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET in Milwaukee, Wis. at Valley Fields. The game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) with Patrick Reed and Eric Simon calling the action.
 
Senior Francesca Whitehurst (Baltimore, Md. / Roland Park Country School) was named the 2019 Co-BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year as nine Georgetown University women's lacrosse players were named All-BIG EAST as announced by the league office on Wednesday. Four Hoyas were named to the first team, and five earned a spot on the second team.
 
Whitehurst and unanimous First Team All-BIG EAST selection Taylor Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker) lead the team in scoring with 58 and 53 points, respectively.  Whitehurst has 32 goals and a squad-best 26 assists, while Gebhardt has managed 37 goals with 16 assists on the season. They are followed by First Team All-BIG EAST awardee Morgan Ryan (Maplewood, N.J. / Oak Knoll School) in third with a team-high 40 goals, while Second Team All-BIG EAST honoree Michaela Bruno (Garden City, N.Y. / Garden City) is fourth with 26 goals to go along with 13 assists on the year.
 
Whitehurst has 61 draw controls and freshman midfielder Jordyn Sabourin (Catonsville, Md. / Notre Dame Prep) is second with 43.   Second Team All-BIG EAST winner Noelle Peragine (Northport, N.Y. / Northport) has 20 caused turnovers and First Team All-BIG EAST honoree Katie Hudson (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. / Cold Spring Harbor) has managed 19 for the year.  In goal, Second Team All-BIG EAST awardee Haelle Chomo (Naples, Fla. / Barron Collier) has played a majority of the minutes in the cage with 107 saves and a 10.58 goals-against average for the season.
 
Marquette is coming off of a 14-12 win over the Hoyas on Saturday to close out the regular season and tie the squads in the standings both at 9-8 overall and 3-2 in league play.  Bruno had four goals for the Hoyas as Grace Gabriel managed five for the Golden Eagles who came back late for the win.  Gabriel was named the BIG EAST Co-Midfielder of the Year as five Golden Eagles were named all-conference.
 
The Hoyas are 6-1 all-time against MU and 3-1 on the road, they have not met in postseason play.  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.
 
The winner of Thursday's game will move on to the championship, which is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. It will be broadcast on FS2.