Providence Battles but Falls to Georgetown in Big East Tournament Opener

The No. 7 seed Providence College women’s basketball team overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter before falling to No. 10 seed Georgetown in the BIG EAST Tournament First Round, 58-56, on March 7 at Mohegan Sun Arena. Olivia Olsen paced the Friars with 21 points and Grace Efosa netted 14 in their final games as Friars.

1ST QUARTER:
• The Friars were held scoreless for 2:36 heading into the media timeout and found themselves trailing 8-4.
• Olsen halted the drought on a lay-up from the right block on the Friars’ first possession out of the break at the 4:26 mark.
• Georgetown went on a 6-0 run to gain a 14-6 advantage, but Nariah Scott drained a three from the left wing on her first touch of the game.
• The Friars trailed 14-9 at the intermission.
• Olsen (2-2) and Scott (1-1) combined to shoot 3-3 from the field in the opening quarter, while the rest of the team went 1-12.

2ND QUARTER:
• A 5-0 spurt to start the second quarter helped Providence level the game at 14-14.
• Georgetown held a 20-19 lead at the media timeout.
• Emily Archibald ended a three-minute scoring drought with a pair of free throws at the 2:44 mark, which trimmed Georgetown’s lead to three (24-21).
• The Hoyas scored six-unanswered points in the final 1:23 of the quarter to take a 31-24 lead at halftime.
• Georgetown held a 10-0 advantage on the scoreboard in points off of turnovers in the first half.
• Olsen paced the Friars with seven points in the first half, while Kelsey Ransom netted 14 for Georgetown.

3RD QUARTER:
• The Hoyas held a 39-32 lead at the media timeout (4:13).
• Providence cut the lead to four with 1:19 on the clock, but Ransom hit a three for Georgetown to push the its lead back to 47-40 at the intermission.

4TH QUARTER:
• Ransom hit another three to start the fourth quarter, building Georgetown’s largest lea of the game (50-40).
• Providence cut deficit to three on a 7-0 run with 6:01 to play (50-47).
• Brynn Farrell hit a three with 4:27 to play to make it a one-point game (51-50).
• Olsen got PC within one for a second time, but Ransom answered with a bucket and then hit 1-2 shots from the line (56-52).
• Olsen scored four-straight points to tie the game, 56-56, with 59-seconds left on the clock.
• The Friars got a defensive stop to regain possession of the ball with 27.7-to play and a tie ball game (56-56), but an official review on an out-of-bounds call gave possession back to Georgetown.
• Ransom was fouled and sank two free throws to put Georgetown ahead, 58-56.
• Providence called timeout to advance the ball and the Olsen’s attempt at the rim rolled out.

NOTES / HIGHLIGHTS:
• Olsen finished with a team-high 21 points on 7-13 shooting and added seven rebounds one steal and three blocked shots. She also shot 7-8 from the free-throw line.
• It marked her third 20+ point game of the season and fifth of her career.
• Efosa recorded 14 points, eight rebounds, one assist and two steals.
• Emily Archibald added six points, seven rebounds, one assist and one block. Four of her seven rebounds came off the offensive glass.
• Marta Morales Romero matched her season high with six assists.

WHAT’S NEXT:
• Providence concludes its season with a 13-19 record, while Georgetown (12-18) advanced to the Quarterfinal Round where it will face No. 2 seed Creighton on March 8 at 7:00 p.m.