Hoyas Hold Line, Hang Up Huskies

This is an official Georgetown press release, published on GUHoyas.com.

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Hoyas Hold On to Down Second-Seeded Washington in WBIT First Round

SEATTLE – The Georgetown University women's basketball team took down the second-seeded University of Washington Huskies on Thursday night as the squad won 64-56 in the opening round of the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Washington. With the win, the Hoyas improve to 23-11 on the year, while the Huskies drop to 16-15 for the season.

Head Coach

Darnell Haney"I'm proud of our group. We did a solid job of taking care of the game plan. We became a little lax and messed up some defensive assignments in the fourth quarter which allowed them to go on a run, but we were expecting that. I'm proud of the way we adapted and made sure we took care of business at the free throw line … I'm proud of our group overall to win in the first ever WBIT."

How it Happened

Four quick points down low began the scoring for the Hoyas as Georgetown was able to maintain a small advantage for much of the first quarter.The teams traded buckets throughout the period, and Washington even took a one-point lead with 1:26 remaining.A traditional three-point play from senior Kelsey Ransom, and a steal leading to a layup for Jada Claude in the waning minutes made it 18-14 in favor of the Blue & Gray after 10 minutes of action.Neither team could gain a large advantage in the second as baskets went back and forth.In the final two minutes of the half, graduate student Graceann Bennett broke the tie with a layup and Ransom followed that up with a jumper before a layup from Alex Cowan made it 32-26 giving GU its largest lead of the game to that point.

A 9-3 Hoya run began the second half including five points from Ransom.The Hoyas would continue to push, building the advantage to as much as 15 at the 4:41 mark, but five quick points cut it back to 10, 46-36.Late scores from Ransom made it 50-39 at the end of the third.The game was not over as Washington came out on a 12-0 run to take the 51-50 lead at 5:42 in the fourth.A layup from Bennett stopped the momentum as GU regained the advantage on a 9-1 Hoya run.Washington answered back, cutting it to three, but in the final 35 seconds, the Blue & Gray hit five free throws as Georgetown held on for the 64-56 victory.

Of Note

Ransom led all scorers with 28 points including a 9-11 performance from the line.Bennett managed 11 points to go along with five rebounds.Graduate student Mya Bembry pulled down a squad-best eight rebounds and posted four points in the win.The Blue & Gray shot 46.2% (24-52) from the field, and Georgetown allowed 37.0% (20-54) shooting by the Huskies.GU outrebounded Washington 34-27, and Georgetown forced 15 Husky turnovers on three steals.Sayvia Sellers led three Huskies in double figures with 15 points, while Dalaya Daniels managed 14 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double.The 23 wins ties the most in a season since 2012 when GU went 23-9. Up Next

The Hoyas will now head to Tulsa, Oklahoma to take on the third-seeded University of Tulsa Hurricanes in the second round of the WBIT on Sunday at the Reynolds Center at 3 p.m. ET.The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at GUHoyas.com.