With eight players gone and beloved Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy off to Auburn, the 2012-2013 women’s basketball team struggled to adapt to the personnel changes.

Georgetown finished the season 15-16 while sputtering to an 11th-place finish in the Big East with a 5-11 conference record. It was the first time since the 2006-2007 season that the Hoyas finished with a losing record and marked the first time in five years that the Blue and Gray did not reach the NCAA tournament.

“It was kind of a slap in the face,” senior guard SamishaPowell said of the team’s failure to reach the postseason.

Injuries also contributed to the team’s disappointing record, depleting the already small 10-player roster. At season’s end, the Blue and Gray had just eight players dressing for games. Powell, then-freshman Katie McCormick and then-junior Andrea White all missed time throughout the season, Powell and McCormick due to season-ending knee injuries.

“We didn’t have a lot of bodies and not everyone was 100 percent healthy,” Powell said. “I think down the stretch, it affected [us] because we had no energy.”

The situation, however, wasn’t dire from the beginning. The Hoyas started the season strong, advancing to the semifinals of the preseason NIT after wins against Sacred Heart and No. 11 Delaware. In Georgetown’s preseason opener against Sacred Heart, the Hoyas dismantled the Pioneers 90-63. The Blue and Gray were led by White, who scored a career-high 24 points, and Rodgers, who posted 22 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double.

With the win, the Hoyas advanced to play Delaware, outscoring the Blue Hens by eight in the second half en route to a 62-56 win. Georgetown took advantage of the Delaware team that was without All-American Elena

Delle Donne, with Rodgers exploding for 35 points in the win.

The victory propelled Georgetown into its first-ever preseason NIT semifinal appearance, where it took on North Carolina. The Tar Heels handed the Blue and Gray their first loss of the young season, cruising to a 63-48 victory.

The Hoyas continued to build off the momentum in their nonconference schedule, finishing with a 9-4 out-of-conference record, with their losses coming at the hands of North Carolina (in the preseason WNIT), California, Penn State and South Dakota State. The Nittany Lions, ranked 10th in the nation at the time, roundly defeated the Hoyas 97-74.

“Any time you’re a defensive team and you give up 97 points, you’re not supposed to win,” then-Head Coach Keith Brown said following the game.

Georgetown’s non-conference wins came against programs including an energetic La Salle squad, D.C. rival George Washington and a tough Temple team. Georgetown showed their grit in all three games, recovering from a 12-point deficit en route to victory over La Salle, keeping the pressure on GW from the first whistle to the last to win 70-54 and holding off several late runs from a tenacious Temple team in their last regular season game of the season

In Big East play, however, the Hoyas were unable to find the same success. The Blue and Gray were unable to keep up with the high-powered offenses of the Big East and were outscored by an average of more than nine points a game.

Georgetown especially struggled against the top Big East teams. Against Connecticut and Notre Dame, the top two teams in the conference, the Hoyas lost by an average of 21 points.

On Feb. 12, Georgetown and No. 23 Syracuse faced off in their final Big East meeting. One month earlier, the Orange embarrassed the Hoyas 86-56 at the Carrier Dome, and the Hoyas were eager for revenge.

Georgetown fell behind early, but led by strong post play from then-senior center Sydney Wilson and then-freshman forward Dominique Vitalis, the Hoyas clawed their way back to tie the game at 25 to enter the half. The Hoyas built an eight-point advantage early in the second half, but aided by Georgetown turnovers, the Orange responded with a 15-point run to take the lead.

Syracuse’s tough defense and timely shooting down the stretch prevented the Hoyas from making a run to pull off the upset, and the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry ended with a 69-60 Orange victory.

The Hoyas earned the 11th seed in the Big East Tournament and a first-round matchup with 14th-seeded Providence. The Blue and Gray dominated the Friars inside and exploded for 44 second-half points.

With the convincing 81-61 win over Providence, Georgetown advanced to play Villanova. Against the Hoyas, the Wildcats sunk a staggering 17 three-pointers en route to an 89-58 win over the Hoyas. In the loss, which would turn out to be Rodgers’ last game, the star guard had a record-breaking performance. Like she had done so many times in her career, Rodgers put on a show, scoring 42 points — a Big East Championship record — on 15-of-30 shooting.