Only 4:30 remained in the first half, and the scoreboard read 32-16 in favor of the Hoyas. The Georgetown women’s basketball team was on its way to its fourth straight victory over George Washington by the biggest margin yet.

The fairy tale feeling was short-lived, however, as the Hoyas’ (0-1) chance for victory collapsed as the team’s offense faded at the start of the second half. The Colonials (1-0) got their revenge in the season opener with a 67-62 win on Friday night in an animated McDonough Gymnasium, playing host to 1,105 locals from both sides.

“For the past year, to be honest, they pretty much owned us. So I think [we] really wanted it,” George Washington senior forward Liz Dancause said.

Starting its season for the second year against its local rival, Georgetown could not ask for a better beginning. The Hoyas looked sharp and aggressive, sending the Colonials reeling. Senior forwards Jessica Simmonds and Anna Montanana, the core of George Washington’s starting lineup, were helpless to put their team in action on offense.

After seven minutes of play, Georgetown rallied to set up a double-digit lead. The team extended its domination until the last five minutes, when at 32-16, things took a downturn. The Hoyas slowed down as the Colonials picked up the pace and cut the lead in half. When the halftime buzzer sounded, the home team was still on top, but its margin had fallen to 32-24.

“Georgetown did a terrific job in the first half of being aggressive and taking the game to us. And I thought that caught us on our heels,” George Washington Head Coach Joe McKeown said. “They played really well, made a lot of shots, made hustle plays. I’ll give them a lot of credit.”

Senior guard Mary Lisicky was once again the star of the show for Georgetown in the first half, shooting at 50 percent and garnering 11 points. George Washington’s struggles showed as no player could rack up more than six points.

The momentum, however, had started to swing in the Colonials’ direction and stayed there for the rest of the game.

Georgetown’s scoreless streak extended to six minutes as its opponent continued to chip away at the lead until they only trailed by three points, 32-29. A surge from the post players, senior forward Varda Tamoulianis and freshman forward Kieraah arlow, helped stave off George Washington for a few more minutes.

But the Colonials continued to pressure the Hoyas until the game had turned in the visitors’ favor.

“I think in the first half we were attacking, we were putting the ball on the floor, we ran our offense, we got good shots, we were patient,” Georgetown Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “In the second half we were rushing shots. We missed a lot of easy, chippy shots inside.”

While free throws played a major role in Georgetown’s loss to UMMC-Ekaterinburg last Monday, layups were the trouble area this time. On several plays, the team seemed incapable of getting the ball through the hoop, instead watching it bounce off the rim or the backboard.

“It goes from one thing to the other,” Williams-Flournoy said about her team’s shooting woes.

It also hurt that Lisicky was limited to one field goal during the half and that George Washington grabbed 14 points from the stripe to Georgetown’s three. With nothing going in their favor, the Hoyas had to sit back and settle for the 67-62 loss to open their season.

“I think we did it. We weren’t as intense. I’m sure they made adjustments, but we still should have executed better than we did,” Lisicky said. “So I still think that we just didn’t do our job.”

Simmonds poured on 15 points in the second half to save her team. Montanana also emerged for the Colonials in the second half, finishing with 15 points. Georgetown had three double-digit scorers, but that was not enough to stay on top. The team also led in rebounding, 51-37, the difference coming from offensive rebounding from the large number of missed layups.

“We just let the little things get to us. We gave them the game. If they didn’t win I’d have been surprised,” Lisicky said.

The Hoyas will try to bounce back on a trip to Utah (0-1). The game is the first-ever matchup between the two sides and Georgetown’s farthest road trip this season. The Utes opened their season with a 63-57 loss to No. 7 Stanford.