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Freshman guard Rubylee Wright

Jaleesa Butler once again led Georgetown with a remarkable offensive performance on Saturday. This time, the rest of the team’s shots also fell, as Georgetown’s highest offensive output of the season spurred the Hoyas (13-6, 3-3) to an 86-68 victory over the South Florida Bulls (15-6, 2-5).

Butler’s career-high 27 points in an 80-65 Wednesday loss against Marquette earned her first start of the season, and the junior forward responded with a dazzling offensive show. Butler scored 26 points on 13-for-18 shooting and South Florida could find no answer for her.

“For the last two games [Butler’s] been the one to step up. I hope she continues to be the one to step up, it’s always good to have a go-to type player,” Georgetown Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “She’s playing with a lot of confidence right now and her teammates are backing her.”

As for Butler, she had little interest in discussing her recent scoring binge, preferring instead to talk about how she can help the team win games.

“As far as scoring-wise, I just try to put the ball in the basket, it’s all going toward one big thing, and that’s the win, so I just try to do whatever I can for the win,” Butler said.

Playing without starting forwards Latia Magee and Krystle Hatton, the rest of the Hoyas stepped up as well. Sophomore forward Monica McNutt led all players with 10 rebounds and freshman guard Adria Crawford scored 14 points. Junior guard Shanice Fuller added 10 points and registered nine assists to move up to sixth in the Big East in assists per game.

Georgetown shot 51.7 percent in the first half and held South Florida to 11-of-37 shooting, including 4-for-19 from three-point range to build a 38-31 halftime lead. Bulls’ senior center Brittany Denson, the Big East’s leader in blocked shots, was limited by foul trouble in the first half. Her absence, along with a strong Georgetown defense, opened up opportunities for the Hoyas on the other end of the floor.

“We played a lot of zone defense – and we actually played a very good zone defense – and were actually able to run in transition and score in transition,” Williams-Flournoy said. “I think that’s why our percentage was so high. I mean we took very high percentage shots.”

Unlike in the Marquette loss, Georgetown never let up against USF. The Bulls shot even worse in the second half than in the first, scoring on only 9-of-31 shots and making only 3-of-18 three-pointers. The Hoyas, on the other hand, stepped up their offensive game after the break, shooting 18-of-27 en route to 48 second-half points.

“We just went back and said, O.K. let’s focus, don’t do like we did [against] Marquette, let’s continue to focus, do what it is that we have been doing,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We just calmed down a little bit and ran our stuff.”

The Hoyas return home for tonight’s 8 p.m. showdown against No. 20 Pittsburgh, when Georgetown will look to keep up the momentum and win consecutive Big East games for the first time this season.

For Butler, maintaining her scoring touch is as simple as keeping to her routine.

“I just try to go out there and play, get my music going before games; it’s kind of what I do,” Butler said. “Stay in tune with my team, basically just go out there and play hard.”

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