The end of the last women’s basketball season brought a 19-16 record, the best recorded by the Hoyas since 2011. With Hoya Madness long past, the team has its sights set on the season opener, happening just next week.

The Hoyas lost four starters from last season, so it looks like it will be a season of rebuilding for Georgetown. Leaving the starting lineup from last season were graduate guards Dorothy Adomako, Dionna White and Mikayla Venson, who together accounted for more than 70% of the Hoyas’ departures on the season. The departure of this triumvirate leaves the Hoyas scrambling to find more scoring from further down the roster. The loss of these three players stands as the main reason for low expectations for the Hoyas across the media.

Senior guard Morgan Smith will be redshirting this upcoming season, meaning she is ineligible for play this season but will return with another year of experience on the Hilltop as a graduate student in the 2020-21 season. Smith started 20 of the 28 games she played in last season. The Hoyas will have to find someone to fill her role as a dominant player on the court and the team’s most reliable source of energy. 

Senior forward Anita Kelava will also return to the court for the Hoyas. During her time as team captain last year, Kelava led the team in blocks, which will surely continue as she uses her height to dominate on the court.

Sophomore guard Nikola Kovacikova will look to be another strong competitor for Georgetown. Kovacikova will likely start more games, as she played in all 35 games last year, although only started eight, and performed well throughout the season.

Graduate guard Brianna Jones will return as a strong, versatile guard for the Hoyas. After finishing last season as the team’s fourth-leading scorer, Jones will look to improve her points average this upcoming year, along with her average number of assists and steals.     

The first game is set to be at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., at 7 p.m. on Nov. 5. This matchup sees the Hoyas face a team perennially among the top mid-majors, as well as an unfamiliar opponent for Georgetown.

The first home game in McDonough Arena will be against the Richmond Spiders at 7 p.m on Nov. 12. Their most recent encounter was last year, with the Hoyas taking the home win 73-53.

The Blue and Gray will travel the following weekend to play the Pittsburgh Panthers at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16. In the showdown last year between the Panthers and the Hoyas, the Hoyas took the lead early on in the game and finished with a big lead of 70-41. The Hoyas will return home to play the James Madison Dukes at 7 p.m. on Nov. 21 in McDonough Arena.

Georgetown will then travel west to Los Angeles, Calif., to play in the Loyola Marymount University Thanksgiving Classic. The two-day tournament will yield two games for the Hoyas. The first one will be against LMU at 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 29, and the second one will be against Fresno State University at 1 p.m. on Nov. 30. 

The Hoyas will travel again to New York City to play Columbia University at 11 a.m. on Dec. 6 and Fordham University at 2 p.m. on Dec. 8. Georgetown takes on Rider University the following weekend at McDonough Arena at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 14. Last season, the Hoyas defeated the Rider Broncs 79-49 in the nonconference final. The last nonconference game will be at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore at 2 p.m. on Dec. 21.

The Blue and Gray will remain on campus for winter break to begin playing Big East Conference games. The conference opener will be in McDonough Arena against Creighton University at 2 p.m. on Dec. 29. Last season brought two showdowns between the Hoyas and the Bluejays, with Georgetown losing the first game 38-65 but taking the win in the second game 62-53. Georgetown will play Creighton once more March 1 to close the conference season.

On New Year’s Eve, the women will take on Providence College at McDonough Arena. Georgetown won both games against Providence last season, 68-52 in the away game and 61-56 at home. The following weekend, the Hoyas travel to St. John’s in New York. The past season brought two close games, with Georgetown falling 51-59 at St. John’s for the first matchup before securing the home win in McDonough Arena 82-80.

The Blue and Gray will then travel to the Midwest to play Butler University at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7 in Indianapolis, Ind., and Xavier University at 2 p.m. on Feb. 9 in Cincinnati.

Then, Georgetown returns home to play three Big East games against Villanova University, DePaul University and Marquette University in McDonough Arena. Georgetown will finish the regular season with two away games against Providence and Creighton. 

The Hoyas will compete in the first round of the Big East tournament in Chicago on March 6.