WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Hoyas Pass Panthers Brunson Returns, GU Ends Skid By Julie Wood Hoya Staff Writer

Charles Nailen/The Hoya Junior forward Santia Jackson had nine rebounds against Pittsburgh.

The Georgetown women’s basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 73-56 road win over Pittsburgh (6-12, 1-6 Big East) Wednesday night. It was sophomore forward Rebekkah Brunson’s first game in six weeks; she had been sidelined with a stress fracture. Brunson, the Hoyas’ leading scorer, had six points and five rebounds in her 13 minutes of play.

Junior forward Zsuzsanna Horvath scored a career-high 24 points, leading the Hoyas, who had three other players in double figures. Georgetown improved to 10-8, 2-5 in the Big East.

The game featured multiple scoring runs by each team, with the Hoyas eventually coming out on top. The Hoyas went up 18-8 in the first 13 minutes of the game, but the Panthers went on a 13-4 run to put them down just one, 22-21. The Hoyas headed into the locker room up 29-24 after freshman point guard Mary Lisicky’s half-court shot at the buzzer.

But the Panthers made another run on two three-pointers by freshman guard Haley Harguth and went up 34-31. This time, the Hoyas’ response knocked out the Panthers for good. They outscored Pittsburgh 25-9 to gain a 56-43 lead and never let them get within nine points for the rest of the game.

The Panthers were led by junior guard Laine Selwyn’s 16 points and 10 assists in her third-straight double-double.

The Hoyas’ success on the boards played a large factor in the victory; they outrebounded the Panthers 52-31. Their 23 offensive rebounds allowed them to score 19 second-chance points. The Panthers had just four. Pittsburgh was also limited by their 35 percent field goal shooting. They also made just 52 percent of their free throws.

The Hoyas, meanwhile, shot 46 percent. Horvath was 11-for-17 from the floor. Lisicky added 10 points, and junior forward Nok Duany scored 11. Senior guard Lesley Walker had 11 points and rebounds.

While Pittsburgh had one less turnover (22) than the Hoyas (23), Georgetown managed to capitalize on the Panthers’ mistakes more effectively. They had 29 points off turnovers, while Pittsburgh had just 16.

The win got the Hoyas back on track after dropping three straight last week. The streak started with home losses to No. 16 Virginia Tech and No. 1 Connecticut and continued when the Hoyas traveled to Syracuse on Jan. 19.

Georgetown fell to the Orangewomen (11-6, 4-2 Big East) 89-61. Despite a then-career high output of 20 points from Horvath, the Hoyas couldn’t overcome Syracuse senior guard Jaime James’ 33 points. James hit 7-of-12 three-pointers, the second most in Syracuse school history.

With Brunson back on the roster, the Hoyas will look to win again as they face Big East cellar-dweller St. John’s (3-15, 0-7 Big East) tomorrow at 2 p.m. in McDonough Gymnasium.