No. 17 Georgetown (19-5, 7-3 Big East) shut down conference foe Cincinnati (8-14, 1-9 Big East) on Saturday afternoon, capitalizing on turnovers and three-point marksmanship for a 55-38 home victory.

The Lady Hoyas never trailed during their fifth straight win but failed to put away the Bearcats until a 9-0 run in the second half gave the hosts a 12-point lead with 3:42 to play. It was Georgetown’s 12th victory in 14 games and the eighth straight defeat for Cincinnati.

The Bearcats, who dressed only seven players for the game, refused to admit defeat early on, despite facing double-digit deficits on multiple occasions. The Blue and Gray built a 27-16 lead in the first half, only to see Cincinnati trim the lead to two with a 9-0 run that spanned the intermission.

The Hoyas relied on long-range shooting to make an impression on the scoreboard in the first half, hitting 7-of-19 from downtown in the first half. Junior guard Rubylee Wright and senior guard Monica McNutt converted three treys apiece in the half, and Wright added a fourth in the second half on her way to a game-high 14 points.

“You can’t live and die by the three-point shot,” Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “But it’s hard when you catch it and you are a three-point shooter and you are so wide open. … It’s so hard to turn down.”

The Blue and Gray saw open looks all game long, firing up a total of 30 three-point efforts and 66 total field goals. The Lady Hoyas shot 33.3 percent from the field and rebounded 18 of their misses.

Georgetown was held without a basket for the opening 3:50 of the second half until freshman guard Samisha Powell ended the scoreless spell with a jumper and sparked a 9-2 run for the Blue and Gray. Meanwhile, Cincinnati’s offense went stagnant, producing only three points in the opening eight minutes of the half.

The Bearcats clawed their way back into the game once again, however, narrowing the gap to 38-35 with 7:19 remaining in the game, but the Hoyas proceeded to finish the game on a 17-3 run. Points off turnovers played a key role as the Blue and Gray had 21 compared to the visitors’ seven.

“That was our main goal tonight, just to pressure,” Wright said.

Georgetown caused commotion in Cincinnati’s backcourt all afternoon, forcing 20 turnovers thanks in large part to a ferocious full-court press. Offensively, the Hoyas took good care of the ball, turning it over only nine times. Wright, in particular, found her teammates for eight assists while committing just three turnovers.

“I just felt like I was more calm out there. It’s nothing different, but I’ve just been a little bit smarter in my decisions,” Wright said.

While the Blue and Gray had their way defensively, they were troubled by the lack of offensive involvement from sophomore guard Sugar Rodgers, who was honored before the game for scoring her 1,000th career point in Tuesday’s game at Louisville. Rodgers, who is second in the Big East in scoring with 18.6 points per game, was held to just three points until the final three minutes and finished with nine points. While Rodgers was face-guarded by defenders assigned to deny her the ball, Williams-Flournoy expected more from her star.

“She took herself out of the game,” Williams-Flournoy said of Rodgers. “She didn’t go hard all the time.”

Luckily for Georgetown, Rodgers’ teammates were eager and able to share the workload. In addition to Wright, McNutt finished with nine points and junior forward Adria Crawford added 10 points.

“We tell them all the time, the bench has to come in and help us at all times,” Williams-Flournoy said. “The bench should be ready to play all the time, because you just never know when your number’s going to get called.”

The Bearcats were led by freshman forward Tiffany Turner’s 12 points. Junior guard Bjonee Reaves added eight points but also turned the ball over eight times.

Next on Georgetown’s schedule is a home date with South Florida on Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. at McDonough Arena.