Winners of six straight contests, the No. 19/20 Georgetown women’s basketball team (7-2) opens Big East conference play this Wednesday night with a visit to Pittsburgh (4-4).

The Hoyas defeated the Panthers, 67-57, in last season’s meeting and are favored once again in the matchup. But after a narrow 58-51 home win over Rider on Sunday, which saw the Blue and Gray scramble back from a 12-point deficit in the second half, Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy is intent on getting her team to play to its potential.

“What we have to do is get back to playing defense. We’re fouling way too much. We’re a much better defensive team than that,” she said after Sunday’s game.

Georgetown holds its opponents to just over 50 points per game, forces 21.6 turnovers per contest, and has allowed over 60 points just once this season. With a focus on disrupting the opposition’s offensive rhythm, creating takeaways and pushing the tempo of play transition, the Hoyas can be difficult to handle. Just ask Georgia — the No. 10 Bulldogs were upset 64-56 by the Blue and Gray on Nov. 26, and UNLV’s previously unblemished record was marred by a 64-45 home dismantling at Georgetown’s hands.

However, the Hoyas have been far from consistent this season: The highly-touted veteran squad dropped its first two meetings against ranked opponents, including a 19-point defeat at local rival Maryland and had trouble in home meetings with Monmouth and Rider.

However, it is noteworthy that Georgetown’s star junior guard and leading scorer Sugar Rodgers is coming off an ankle injury that hampered her until late November, while senior forward Tia Magee — an emerging scoring threat this season with her 12.1 points and a team-leading 6.4 rebounds per game — is expected to return to the lineup after missing Sunday’s contest because of a knee injury.

“We’ll have Tia Magee back up at the top of the press, and that calms things down a bit up there,” Williams-Flournoy said.

Despite the Hoyas’ inconsistent nonconference play, however, a weak Pittsburgh squad should be no trouble. The Panthers were routed by 49 points in a 92-43 contest to No. 7 Duke and surrendered 82 points in a loss to Big South foe High Point.

The Blue and Gray will look to start quickly against the Panthers, likely attempting to use their speed to kick-start the offense from the defensive end and exploit Pittsburgh on the fast break.

“We need to start the game better early and play better defense,” senior guard Alexa Roche said.

While Georgetown was plagued in its early season setbacks by poor shooting and an inability to respond to cold spells, the Hoyas will look to maintain control of the game even in the event of a slump.

“We run in transition and we play defense. That’s our style of play,” Williams-Flournoy said. “As long as we are running in transition and hitting those shots, we can do that. When we aren’t hitting those shots, we have to play smarter basketball.”

Rodgers leads the Hoyas with 14.9 points per game, while freshman guard Brianna Kiessel leads the Panthers with 13.6 points per game.

The contest will be held at Petersen Sports Complex in Pittsburgh, Pa. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday night.