After a strong start to the season with decisive wins against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Temple University, the Georgetown University women’s basketball team was unable to continue their winning streak and stumbled to Brown University, 45-43, on Nov. 12. 

Georgetown’s (2-1) loss to the Brown Bears (1-2) was a hotly contested, defensive matchup that came down to the wire. After a slow start from both teams, the Hoyas looked to be pulling away early, but the Bears brought it back during the second quarter and kept the game in a back-and-forth for the remainder of the afternoon, before pulling away in the final seconds.

Neither team got their offense going in the early stages of the game, with turnovers and misses on both sides, until Brown guard Kyla Jones opened the scoring with an easy layup. 

The Hoyas responded quickly, with a top-of-the-key jumper from sophomore guard Victoria Rivera immediately followed by an impressive steal and coast-to-coast finish for senior guard Kelsey Ransom. Georgetown kept the momentum up, building a 9-2 lead with six minutes left to play in the quarter. 

Brown responded well, slotting a corner three and transition bucket quickly, bringing the game within two and forcing a Hoya timeout to stop the run. 

Out of the timeout, both teams were locked in a back-and-forth, unable to produce consistent offensive output. 

With a minute left to play in the quarter, Georgetown took the initiative, as graduate guard Alex Cowan nailed a 3-pointer before assisting a fast break layup. A block from graduate forward Mya Bembry set up a last-second jumper for Cowan, and the Hoyas ended the opening quarter up 18-11.

After an early baseline jumper from Bembry to open the second quarter, neither team saw any sign of life offensively for the next few minutes. The stalemate was broken by Brown guard Olivia Young, who hit a 3-pointer four minutes into the quarter that sparked offensive output for both teams. 

Graduate forward Graceann Bennett provided much of Georgetown’s offense for the quarter with multiple strong inside layups. But it was the Bears guard Isabella Mauricio who set the tempo, with two 3-pointers in quick succession to cut the Hoya lead to 2 points with 4:30 to play in the quarter. After layups on both sides, neither team tallied a field goal for the remainder of the half, as two Brown free throws leveled the game at 26 entering the halftime break. 

In the third quarter, neither team was able to generate any sort of offense, as a combination of defensive discipline and sloppy offense led to a low-scoring 10 minutes. 

Bears guard Grace Arnolie broke the deadlock, capitalizing on a Hoya turnover to hit a big 3-pointer, to put Brown up 31-28 with 3:50 to play. More offensive woes followed on both sides, with a pair of free throws from Ransom providing the first Georgetown points in over eight minutes. In the final seconds of the third quarter, a nice move from junior center Ariel Jenkins tied the game at 32, closing out the quarter with just the third total field goal from either side. 

The final quarter opened with solid offense on both sides, as neither team was able to build much of a lead. The team turned to Ransom to kick-start the offense, and she answered the call with a pair of nice jumpers, followed by a coast-to-coast bucket to bring the Hoya lead up to 4 with seven minutes to play. 

Despite the strong start, Georgetown was again unable to keep up the offensive pressure, and Brown slowly brought the game back, tying it up at 41 with 2:39 to play. Another nice move from Ransom put the Hoyas up 2. 

The Hoyas looked to be in a great position with 40 seconds left and the Bear’s shot clock winding down, but a miraculous, fade-away, banked 3-pointer from Arnolie beat the shot-clock buzzer and gave Brown a late lead. Georgetown was not able to convert on two consecutive inbounds plays, and the Bears won a heartbreaker, 45-43.

Despite strong performances from Ransom and Bennett, who finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively, the Hoyas were not able to consistently produce offense throughout the game. Their interior defense was certainly a bright spot, in large part due to the impact of Bennett, but at key points they were unable to defend from beyond the arc, and it was Brown’s 3-pointers that eventually decided the game. 

Interim Head Coach Darnell Haney pointed to the offensive struggles that hurt his team down the stretch.

“I think we did a good job of guarding different looks defensively, but we didn’t execute on offense,” Haney told Georgetown Athletics after the game. “When you do not execute on a consistent basis, it makes it difficult. We are going to go back and watch the film to see where we can improve.”

Georgetown will hope to bounce back as they face Fairleigh Dickinson University (0-3) on Friday, Nov. 17 at McDonough Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and Hoya fans can watch the game on the BIG EAST Digital Network.