Alyssa Geary's 15 points leads Providence past Georgetown in the BIG EAST Tournament first round.
Geary's 15 Points Leads Providence Past Georgetown
Box Score | Providence Quotes | Georgetown Quotes
CHICAGO — Forward Alyssa Geary scored 15 points — including five in the final period — as eighth seed Providence held off No. 9 Georgetown 49-46 in a Big East women’s basketball first-round game on Friday at Wintrust Arena.
The Friars (13-18) beat the Hoyas (5-25) for the second time in three tries this season and meet top seed DePaul at noon (CT) Saturday in the Big East quarterfinals.
Providence never trailed but couldn’t put the game away until the final seconds as Georgetown erased an eight-point Hoya lead and cut it to two points twice in the final minute.
Georgetown guard Taylor Barnes scored six of her game-high 25 points in the final quarter. Teammate Anita Kelava pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Chanell Williams added nine points for Providence, which shot 36.2 percent from the field (17-of-47). Georgetown was 19 percent (12-of-63).
Providence broke a 3-3 early tie with seven unanswered points en route to a 14-5 lead at the end of the first quarter. But Georgetown closed the gap in the second as Barnes scored eight points to trim the halftime gap to 20-16.
The Hoyas fell behind 35-24 in the third quarter but launched a 6-0 run over the a late 2:15 stretch to stay within striking distance at 35-30 entering the final period.
The teams split their 2019-20 season series. The Hoyas claimed a 62-53 triumph on Dec. 31. The Friars, who have six losses in seven Big East games late in the season, broke out of the slump with a 62-55 win in the rematch on Feb. 28.
DePaul owns two victories over Providence in 2019-20.