Women's Basketball Notches First BIG EAST Victory With 70-61 Win Over Georgetown

Sarah Beal notched a career-high 21 points and added six boards, five assists and two steals.

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Sarah Beal tallied a career-high 21 points.

Jan. 15, 2014

Box Score

Post Game Interview -Sarah Beal

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Providence College women's basketball team tallied its first BIG EAST win of the season on Wednesday, January 15, when the Friars topped Georgetown, 70-61. It marked Providence's first win over the Hoyas since 2002. The Friars improve to 6-10 overall and 1-4 in the BIG EAST. Georgetown moves to 7-10 (1-4 BIG EAST). Freshman guard Sarah Beal (Matthews, N.C.) notched a career-high 21 points and added six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Georgetown opened the game on a 7-0 run that the Friars mirrored to even the score at 7-7 (15:25). The Friars went on to outscore the Hoyas 27-13 down the stretch and took a 34-20 advantage into the locker room at halftime. Junior guard Tori Rule (Minneapolis, Minn.) carried the Friars on an 11-0 run to close the half. She hit 2-of-3 from the field and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe in the final 5:34 of the half. Rule went into the break with 19 points. Natalie Butler paced the Hoyas with 5 points.

Senior guard Danielle Pearson played an aggressive half on the glass, hauling in six boards, including four on the offensive end. Freshman forward Aliyah Miller (Southaven, Miss.) anchored the Friars' defense with four steals and one block in the first 20 minutes of play.

Providence carried its momentum into the second half as the Friars extended their lead to 21 points (47-26) with 11:56 left to play. The Hoyas went on a 19-7 run to close the Friars' lead to nine (54-45), with six minutes to play, but that was close as they would get. Providence pushed its lead to 16 points and remained in control for the remainder of regulation.

In the final 1:22 of the game, Beal downed 7-of-7 free throw attempts to secure the Friars' victory. Collectively, the Friars shot 20-for-25 (80 percent) from the charity stripe to notch their second-highest free throw percentage of the season and second-most free throws made in a game.

Junior forward Alexis Harris (Detroit, Mich.) joined Beal and Rule in double figures with 10 points. Pearson finished the night with a team-high eight rebounds and added six points, five assists and three steals.

Junior forward Annie Russian (Round Rock, Texas) recorded big minutes off the bench for Providence and sparked the Friars' with a career-high five boards.

Andrea White led Georgetown's offense with a double-double on 21 points and 11 boards. Butler also finished the game with a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Providence returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 18 when the Friars travel to Cincinnati, Ohio for an afternoon match-up against Xavier. The game is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m and will be played at the Cintas Center.

-GO FRIARS-