Some superstars need to be talked out of a slump, while others will push themselves to improve. Georgetown’s Sugar Rodgers placed herself firmly in the latter category Tuesday night.

The sophomore guard scored 17 of her 25 points in the first half to lead the No. 16 Lady Hoyas (20-5, 8-3 Big East) to a 67-38 romp of South Florida (10-14, 1-9 Big East). The win was Georgetown’s sixth straight and its largest of the year in conference play.

“I just went out there and played off my teammates,” Rodgers said. “The energy level of our team was up.”

Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy called out Rodgers after a lackluster performance in Saturday’s win over Cincinnati but insisted that she didn’t have to give her star any extra motivation Tuesday night.

“I didn’t have to say anything to her. Sugar and I have that kind of relationship,” Williams-Flournoy said. “She knew I was disappointed in her effort.”

The Lady Hoyas, who were hosting a “Pink Zone” night to raise breast cancer awareness, opened the game with eight unanswered points. Georgetown’s zone press repeatedly trapped the South Florida guards at midcourt, forcing them into bad passes and backcourt violations.

The Blue and Gray consistently took advantage of the Bulls’ miscues, scoring 18 points off turnovers and 18 on the fast break.

“I think everyone ran the floor extremely well tonight, so it opened up a lot,” Rodgers said. “Our defense made our offense.”

Hot pink uniforms did little for South Florida’s cold shooting, as the hapless Bulls shot 23.7 percent from the field and lost for the ninth time in 10 games. When the visitors beat the Georgetown press, a packed-in defense forced them into 18 three-point attempts, none of which found the bottom of the net. Junior guard Andrea Smith scored nine points — about half her season average — on 2-of-13 shooting.

The Blue and Gray, on the other hand, couldn’t miss a shot for much of the game. On a night when Williams-Flournoy pledged a $50 donation to breast cancer research for every three-pointer, her team connected from beyond the arc on 12 of 23 attempts.

“I’ll pay any amount for them to shoot that well,” Williams-Flournoy joked.

Though Rodgers clearly dominated the scoring, 10 of the 13 active Lady Hoyas connected at least once from the field. Junior point guard Rubylee Wright scored only three points but dished out eight assists while turning the ball over only once.

“I think Ruby’s really developing into a very good point guard for us, and she’s really understanding her role,” Williams-Flournoy said. “There were a lot of times when she could’ve taken a shot, but she continued to hunt the paint and find other people. In the first half she made some great passes to the kids down low.”

The Lady Hoyas look to continue their winning streak at St. John’s this Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.