Three consecutive losses and five defeats in its last six games have dropped Georgetown (13-9, 3-6 Big East) into a five-way tie for 10th place in the Big East. The Hoyas will need a strong showing when they square off against Rutgers (12-8, 4-5) at 2 p.m. Saturday if they are to get back to the middle of the Big East pack. Although Rutgers is in the midst of a two-game losing streak that has them sitting just outside the top 25, the Scarlet Knights boast the Big East’s third-best defense and one of the conference’s most prolific scorers.

Junior guard Epiphanny Prince paces the Rutgers offense, averaging 20.8 points per game, third in the Big East. Fellow junior guard Brittany Ray gives Rutgers a second double-digit scorer – 11.1 points per game – and is capable of carrying the scoring load if Prince struggles.

Georgetown may be playing without its second leading scorer, senior guard Karee Houlette, who is taking it day-to-day with an injured ankle. Houlette averages 9.8 points per game for the Hoyas and leads the Big East in three-point shooting at 43.2 percent. The Blue and Gray struggled to find a scoring balance in Wednesday’s 57-51 loss at DePaul and Houlette’s return would give Georgetown a much needed boost on Saturday.

Even without Houlette, the Hoyas have faith that, despite losing three in a row, they have played well enough recently against their ranked opponents to reverse their fortunes against Rutgers.

“It’s definitely a thing where we need to bounce back, but I don’t think anyone’s down on the situation that we’re losing,” junior guard Jaleesa Butler said. “I think that everybody’s just looking forward to the next game. We have Rutgers next, and it’s a very winnable game so we’re just looking towards the future.”

Butler leads Georgetown in scoring at 10 points per game and is coming off a 17-point performance against DePaul after missing one game with an ankle sprain.

If the Hoyas can shoot as well as they did against Connecticut, when they shot 50 percent from beyond the arc, and rebound as well as they did against DePaul, where they held a 51-35 rebounding margin, they should be able to snap their losing streak. But doing so will not be easy against a Rutgers team that, despite its struggles, has the potential to be very good.

“We’ve just got to keep fighting. I mean, the Big East is tough,” Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “You can play four straight ranked opponents – that’s just how strong the Big East conference is.”

Although Rutgers is just outside the rankings, clearly the difficulty of Georgetown’s next opponent is not lost upon Williams-Flournoy.

“You can’t get your head down; you’ve just got to keep fighting, and eventually we’re gonna steal one of these wins.”

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