The No. 14 Georgetown women’s basketball team (18-5, 7-3 Big East) took its show on the road this weekend, besting Cincinnati (11-12, 2-8 Big East), 65-54, Saturday afternoon. The Hoyas were bolstered by several scoring runs and held off a late Bearcat comeback attempt to secure the victory.

Georgetown Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy was not pleased with the team’s first-half defensive effort but was nonetheless satisfied with the win.

“You do not want to be having bad defensive games at this point in the season, so that’s something that we have to continue to improve upon,” Williams-Flournoy said. “I thought Cincinnati played extremely hard, but we were able to come out in the second half and step up our defensive pressure.”

After a sluggish start for Georgetown, the score stood knotted at 9-9 five minutes into the game. However, the Blue and Gray went on a 17-2 run in the next eight minutes to take a 26-11 lead.

Freshman guard Taylor Brown made two consecutive threes during the run en route to a 10-point night. Brown was just one part of Georgetown’s strong shooting night, as the team shot over 50 percent from three-point range.

“I thought Taylor came in and played extremely well,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We usually don’t do as well when we shoot so many threes, but it worked for us.”

The Hoyas never lost the lead after their first-half run, but the Bearcats managed to claw their way back into the game. Some timely shooting from senior guard Bjonee Reaves cut the Georgetown lead to four going into halftime.

However, Georgetown came out of the gate strong in the second half, building their lead back up to nine with 10 minutes remaining in the half. Much of their second-half scoring came from senior forward Tia Magee, who seems to be making a trend out of strong performances after intermission.

Magee finished the night with 18 points, five rebounds and four steals but accomplished an even bigger feat by scoring her 1,000th career point as a Hoya.

“It snuck up on me, but it’s really exciting,” Magee said. “I’ve always considered myself a defensive player, so for a defensive player to hit 1,000 points is a big deal.”

The scoring mark demonstrates not only her value to the program but also her elevated play down the home stretch of this season.

“I’m very proud of [Tia]. It’s something that she’s worked extremely hard for, and what better time for her to get it than right now,” Williams-Flournoy said.

The Bearcats cut the Georgetown lead down to 60-54 with just under a minute to play, but the Hoyas squashed any hope of a comeback with some clutch free-throw shooting.

Junior guard Sugar Rodgers led the way for the Hoyas with 19 points, and senior point guard Rubylee Wright added 10. Both players were a force on the boards as well, with each posting seven rebounds on the afternoon.

And while Williams-Flournoy may have been disappointed with the defense as a whole, the Hoyas’ signature press disrupted yet another opponent by forcing 24 turnovers.

“That is what we do. The program motto is to press, play defense and force turnovers,” Williams-Flournoy said.

The Blue and Gray will return to action this Wednesday when they take on Seton Hall (7-17, 0-10 Big East) at McDonough Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.