Georgetown trailed throughout much of its contest with DePaul, but continued to fight back, tying the game with just under 10 minutes left before taking a 51-50 lead, their first of the second half, with just over three minutes remaining. Unfortunately for the Blue and Gray, they couldn’t overcome one final deficit, as the Hoyas’ (13-9, 3-6) offense sputtered down the stretch and fell 57-51 to No. 24 DePaul on Wednesday night. In an otherwise-strong performance, the Hoyas simply couldn’t make a shot, as their 28.8 percent shooting and 1-for-13 from the three-point range indicate.

“I thought we played pretty solid defensively, and we rebounded the ball extremely well,” Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “We missed a whole lot of layups. We looked at the shot chart right underneath the basket; it was a good amount of layups we missed.”

With senior sharpshooter Karee Houlette, the team’s second leading scorer, out with an ankle injury, the Hoyas struggled to make shots, particularly layups, early and often. On Georgetown’s first two possessions, senior center Krystle Hatton missed her first two attempts, but two offensive rebounds allowed her to score on her third try. Georgetown’s dominance on the glass kept the game close, as Georgetown outrebounded DePaul 30-15 in the first half, including 18 Hoya offensive rebounds to only one for the Blue Demons.

The rebounding advantage and the return of leading scorer Jaleesa Butler, who missed Saturday’s 80-61 loss against Connecticut with an ankle injury, kept the Hoyas within striking distance. Butler made nine of her game-high 17 points in the first half, and the Hoyas were able to limit the Blue Demons’ number of possessions by controlling the boards. Despite shooting only 8-for-39 and allowing DePaul to make 14-of-27 attempts in the first half, the Blue and Gray trailed by only nine points at the break.

“When you’re not shooting well, you’ve just got to be able to get to the glass and give yourself some more opportunities,” Williams-Flournoy said.

In the second half, Georgetown’s defense limited DePaul to 25 points on 33.3 percent shooting. The offense started to show signs of life as well, and the comeback was on. Fuller scored 12 of her 14 points after the break to help Georgetown claw back and added 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the year.

Freshman forward Alexa Roche played well off the bench, scoring six points on 3-of-9 shooting to give the Hoyas a much needed third scorer, as well as registering three blocked shots.

“She played very well. She got in there, she rebounded – she made some nice, strong moves to the basket,” Williams-Flournoy said. “Alexa and all the other freshmen, we’re just trying to get them a little consistent.”

Roche’s short jumper with 9:42 remaining knotted the score up at 41-41. DePaul got the lead back up to five, but Fuller scored on three consecutive possessions to get Georgetown back within one. Butler made a pair of baskets to give the Hoyas a 51-50 lead with 3:16 to go. But the Hoyas’ were unable to sustain their brief lead in the closing minutes. DePaul scored the game’s final seven points to secure the victory and end Georgetown’s upset hopes.

“It’s a tough loss because we fought our way back but we just didn’t come out with the win,” Butler said.

The Hoyas found little offense outside of Butler, Fuller and Roche, as the rest of the team combined to shoot 3-of-33 and contributed only 14 points. Sophomore guard Monica McNutt struggled with only three points on 1-of-10 shooting. Hatton managed only two points on 1-of-6 shooting from the floor. Freshmen forward Latia Magee and point guard Rubylee Wright fared the same, scoring two points apiece, going a combined 1-for-10 from the field.

The Hoyas’ current three-game losing streak has been against all ranked teams. Up next for the Hoyas is a visit to Rutgers (12-8, 4-5) on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

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