The Georgetown women’s basketball team capped off a 24-11 (9-7 Big East) season with its second run to the Sweet 16 in program history and the first in seven seasons under Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy.
“We had a really good season,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We had some big wins in there during the regular season. We didn’t do as well in the Big East as we would have liked to have done, but the Big East got us ready and prepared to play in the NCAA tournament. Altogether a very good season, and probably the only downfall being that we didn’t do as well in the Big East as we would have liked.”
“Last season, I wouldn’t say it was perfect,” senior forward Tia Magee said. “It was up and down, but throughout everything, we learned and we grew as a team.”
The Hoyas peaked at No. 11 in the AP Poll and No. 12 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. Despite finishing at No. 23 at the end of the season in the AP Poll, the Blue and Gray were awarded a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. They defeated No. 12 Princeton in the first round, 65-49, and No. 4 Maryland, 79-57, in the second round, before falling to No. 1 overall seed Connecticut, 68-63, in the regional semifinal after leading for most of the contest.
“When the NCAA [tournament] came around, that was when we really pulled together,” Magee said. “We kind of just made a decision as a team that this was our time to shine. We had a lot to prove. We took it a game at a time, we stuck together, we had each other’s back through everything and we almost pulled it off against UConn.”
Other notable results included early-season nonconference victories against No. 4 Tennessee and local rival Maryland, a major conference victory against then-No. 8 West Virginia and two close losses to Connecticut in the regular season and conference tournament.
“The Big East is the best women’s conference ever,” junior guard Sugar Rodgers said. “You have some of the best players in the conference. … It was tough. You’ve got to play hard every night.”
Rodgers led the Hoyas in scoring, averaging 18.7 points per contest, including a season-high 34 in the NCAA tournament second-round win over Maryland. Rodgers also pulled down the most rebounds of anyone on the roster and led the team with 90 steals.
Then-junior guard Rubylee Wright also contributed with 7.7 points and 5.0 assists per game, while Magee added 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest.
The lone senior on last year’s squad, guard Monica McNutt, was second on the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game and started all 35 games for the Hoyas. She also added 4.3 rebounds per contest in 30.4 minutes per game.
“I’m going to miss her,” Rodgers said. “She was a good leader. I don’t think we’ll have a leader like that for a couple years, so just her leadership is what I’m going to miss the most.”
“She was the main one that pulled us together,” Wright said. “The qualities that she had last year and us being there and being able to see how she brought the team together, I think we’re prepared to do the same this year.”
Georgetown averaged 64 points per game as a team and held opponents to a mere 56.5. Defense was undoubtedly the Hoyas’ calling card last year, as they forced 21.5 turnovers — including 10.8 steals — per game.
But while the Blue and Gray defense was nothing short of excellent, rebounding was clearly the team’s Achilles’ heel. Although they narrowly edged opponents 36.5 to 36.4 per game, they were outreboundedby many of the upper-echelon teams, including 44-37 in the NCAA tournament loss to Connecticut.
Three-point shooting, however, helped the Hoyas overcome their rebounding deficiency. They averaged 6.9 makes from beyond the arc per contest, most coming from McNutt and Rodgers.
The Hoyas think the elevation of seven juniors to fill the vacancy left by McNutt will be enough to push them to even greater heights in 2011-2012. If preseason media hype is to be believed, they may be right.
