CHICAGO, Ill. – The Villanova Wildcats gave a valiant effort on Sunday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the Big East Tournament, but the hot shooting Georgetown Hoyas proved to be too much as the Hoyas tallied a 76-67 victory. With the loss, Villanova falls to 18-12 on the season, while the Hoyas improve to 16-14 on the season.
Three-point shooting was the theme in the first half with both teams on fire from long distance. Villanova finished the first half 10-of-16 from three for .625, while Georgetown was 6-of-7 from behind the arc in the opening half 85.7 percent. Overall, Villanova was 16-of-28 from the field (.571) and the Hoyas were 15-of-23 for .652.
Villanova led 37-35 with 2:02 to play in the second quarter, when the Wildcats scored five straight points to open up a 42-35 lead. The five Wildcat points included a three-ball by senior forward Jannah Tucker and a driving lay-up by junior forward Mary Gedaka.
Georgetown closed out the first half scoring when senior guard Dionna White drained a three just before the second quarter buzzer. The White three sent the teams to halftime with Villanova holding a 42-38 lead.
With the score tied at 53-53 with 3:44 remaining in the third quarter, Georgetown went on a 9-0 run to open up a 62-53 advantage at the 1:50 mark. White had five points in the Hoya spurt, while senior forward Dorothy Adomako added four points. After a three-point field goal by Wildcat junior Bridget Herlihy made it a 62-56 game, the Hoyas finished the quarter scoring the final five points to lead 67-56 after three.
Trailing 73-63 with 3:32 to play in the game, the Wildcats got back-to-back field goals from junior guard Kelly Jekot to slice the Hoya lead to 73-67 with 58 seconds on the clock. After Mikayla Venson went 1-of-2 from the foul line to increase the Georgetown lead to 74-67, Villanova had possession with a chance to get within five with a two or four with three. The Wildcats turned the ball over on the next trip down the court and Georgetown sealed the game at the free throw line.
Gedaka led the Wildcats in the loss with 20 points to go with four rebounds, four assists and two blocks. She was 10-of-14 from the foul line. Senior guard Adrianna Hahn and Jekot had 15 points each. Hahn was 5-of-8 from three and dished out five assists. Jekot was 6-of-8 from the floor and had a team-high six rebounds.
Georgetown was paced by White who had a game-high 27 points and Adomako who finished with 25 points. White also added nine rebounds, five assists and four steals.
For the game, Villanova was 27-of-56 from the field (48.2%), 13-of-31 from three-point range (41.9%) and the Wildcats did not attempt a free throw, while the Hoyas shot 52.7 percent from the floor (29-of-55), 57.1 percent from behind the arc (8-of-14) and 58.8 percent from the charity stripe (10-of-17). Villanova owned a slight 30-29 advantage on the backboards.
NOTES: Villanova falls to 4-3 all-time versus Georgetown in the Big East Tournament…The Wildcats are now 4-5 all-time in the Big East Tournament as the No. 5 seed…Mary Gedaka is 115-of-156 from the field for .737 in the last 15 games…Kelly Jekot has scored double figures in 24 of the 30 games this year…The Wildcats have now made at least one three-point field goal in 491 straight games…Today was Mary Gedaka's seventh 20-point scoring game of the season
