BOX SCORE
MILWAUKEE – Third-seeded Georgetown stunned top-seeded Denver, 9-8 in double-overtime, to win the 2019 BIG EAST Women’s Lacrosse Championship presented by Jeep. Tournament Most Outstanding Player Francesca Whitehurst scored the sudden victory goal with 4:02 remaining in the second overtime period to clinch the Hoyas’ second league crown and first since 2010. GU earns the BIG EAST’s automatic bid into the 2019 NCAA Championship, marking their 15^th overall appearance and first back-to-back showing since 2013-14. The 15^th-ranked Pioneers will find out if they earn an at-large bid during tomorrow night’s selection show, set for 8 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.
 
Denver jumped out to a 6-0 lead 14 minutes into the contest as Eliza Radochonski and Bea Behrins each scored twice, along with goals from Quintin Hoch-Bullen and Julia Feiss. The Hoyas responded by scoring four of the next five, to bring it to 7-4 with under seven minutes to go in the half, but a last-second score by Behrins gave DU a four-goal cushion, 8-4, at the break.
 
Georgetown’s defense clamped down from that point forward, holding the nation’s 16^th-highest scoring offense without a goal for the final 37+ minutes. Morgan Ryan started the Hoyas’ 5-0 run eight minutes into the second half before Taylor Gebhardtscored halfway through the frame. Whitehurst pulled GU within one, 8-7, with 12:27 to go, before Michaela Bruno knotted the game with 9:51 remaining.
 
In the first overtime period, Denver got the only registered shot of the frame as the game went into a second overtime session. With Hannah Liddy drawing a yellow card with 4:40 to go, Georgetown went a man-up and took advantage of it 38 seconds later as Whitehurst took a feed from Gebhardt and buried it for the golden goal. Whitehurst finished the tournament with eight goals, two assists, five ground balls and nine draw controls, including two goals, three ground balls and four draws this afternoon.
 
Haelle Chomo was clutch down the stretch for Georgetown, finishing with eight saves on the afternoon, including five in that scoreless second half. Carson Gregg finished with seven saves for Denver, who saw Behrins tally four points off three goals and an assist. Maddie Baum had a game-high six draw controls and Katherine Fischer was credited with three caused turnovers for the Pios. Gebhardt had three points (2g, 1a) while Natalia Lynch add three caused turnovers and two ground balls for GU.  
 
Whitehurst was joined on the All-Tournament team by Chomo, Gebhardt, Bruno and Mollie Miller, while Denver saw Behrins, Radochonski, Baum and Hoch-Bullen recognized. Villanova’s Brittany Bruno and Marquette’s Grace Gabriel and Lindsey Willcocks rounded out the list.
 
Georgetown becomes the third No. 3 seed to win the BIG EAST Championship and first since 2011. They are just the fourth underdog to win the league title and first since 2012. The Hoyas improve to 9-11 in the conference tournament while Denver moves to 3-3, finishing as runner-up in each of its first three seasons of BIG EAST play. It marked Georgetown’s first postseason win over Denver in three meetings. The teams have met in both the postseason and regular season in each of the last three years, with the regular-season winner losing in the postseason matchup every season. This marked the first title game to be decided in overtime in BIG EAST Championship history, and just the third conference postseason game to go into extra frames (2010 semifinals, 2008 semifinals). The lower seed is now 3-0 in BIG EAST Championship overtime games.  
 
BIG EAST All-Tournament Team
Brittany Bruno, Villanova
Lindsey Willcocks, Marquette
Grace Gabriel, Marquette
Quintin Hoch-Bullen, Denver
Maddie Baum, Denver
Bea Behrins, Denver
Eliza Radochonski, Denver
Michaela Bruno, Georgetown
Hallie Chomo, Georgetown
Mollie Miller, Georgetown
Taylor Gebhardt, Georgetown
Francesca Whitehurst, Georgetown
 
Most Outstanding Player
Francesca Whitehurst, Georgetown