In front of a huge crowd of over 2,100 Saturday afternoon, the Georgetown women’s basketball team (22-4, 11-2 Big East) recorded perhaps the biggest win in program history, defeating the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (23-3, 10-3 Big East) 76-66, on Senior Day no less.

“It means a whole lot,” sophomore forward Latia Magee said. “We haven’t beaten Notre Dame before. The seniors are so excited because we haven’t beaten Notre Dame in their four years here. We’re going to take this win and go on a run.”

It was Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy’s first victory over the Irish and the program’s first victory over a top-10 team in history. The win also pushed the Hoyas back into second place in the Big East standings and bumped them up to No. 13 in the AP poll on Monday – the highest ranking in school history in that poll. The Hoyas were ranked 12th in last week’s ESPN/USA Today poll, the latest version of which will be released today. The Hoyas can expect to rise in that poll as well.

“A ranking is just a number,” freshman guard Ta’Shauna “Sugar” Rodgers said after the game.

“I don’t know where that will put us exactly, but every game is important,” sophomore forward Adria Crawford added. “Coach tells us not to take anybody lightly, but not to be scared of anybody. Notre Dame was just another game that we had to win.”

Williams-Flournoy was a little less reserved when talking about the meaning of the win.

“It’s not only a big game because of the ranking, but because we have never beaten Notre Dame,” Williams-Flournoy said. “And where we are right now, in order to show people how much of a contender we are, we have to be able to beat teams like [Notre Dame].”

Despite it being a day for honoring the seniors, it was the underclassmen that put on a show. Rodgers broke free from a shooting slump to score 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including a 3-of-5 clip from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Magee and Crawford provided a rare inside game for the Hoyas, with Magee scoring 17 and Crawford notching 18. Crawford was especially clutch from the free-throw line, going 10-of-11 from the charity stripe.

“It was our most well-rounded game, inside and out,” Crawford said.

Added Rodgers about her performance: “I just went to the basket as hard as I could.”

Notre Dame was without its top rebounder and second-leading scorer, senior guard Lindsay Schrader. As a result, the Hoyas won two rebounding wars – a rare occurrence for the undersized Blue and Gray. Georgetown out-rebounded the Irish 36-31 overall and a resounding 19-8 on the offensive glass. Magee had seven boards and Crawford and Rodgers each had six. The Hoyas’ team leader in rebounds, senior forward Jaleesa Butler, got into quick foul trouble, picking up four fouls in just seven minutes of play. Nevertheless, Butler and her two classmates, guards Kenya Kirkland and Shanice Fuller, still provided leadership – a testament to the meaning of Senior Day.

“I feel like in other games, [the seniors] have my back,” Magee said. “So in this game, it was my job to step up and make more shots.”

“Can I say something?” Williams-Flournoy said with a smile. “I’d like the media to please put down that we outrebounded them because it’s not what we normally do.”

Defensively, Georgetown put on another show. The Fighting Irish looked uncomfortable in the Hoyas’ half-court trapping defense, and it showed on the stat sheet – Notre Dame turned the ball over 21 times, including four crucial turnovers in the final minute when the Irish were down by just four points. The Hoyas turned the ball over just 10 times.

“We focused on taking care of the ball,” Crawford said. “We knew we had to score [against Notre Dame], and we had to take care of the ball and to run our offense all the way through in order to do that.”

Once again, Magee, Rodgers and Crawford were the stars, each recording three steals with Magee adding two blocks.

The Hoya seniors – Butler, Kirkland and Fuller – were honored when all three started the game. As a result, however, it was the Hoya bench that was absolutely dominant, scoring 54 points compared to Notre Dame’s 12 bench points.

The Irish jumped out to a hot start, taking a 9-2 advantage early on, but the Hoyas stormed back, led by Rodgers, and went into the halftime break leading 33-30. It was a back-and-forth game for the first 10 minutes, but with Crawford leading the way, the Hoyas cruised to an 11-point advantage. Notre Dame followed with a 13-6 run, but it couldn’t close the gap after that.

Down 67-64, Notre Dame threw away a pass and committed an offensive foul, and two Hoya steals later, the game was clinched.

“Coach told us, `Stop panicking and stay in the game,'” Crawford said. “We have very good leaders and they help us keep our composure.”

After, the Hoyas waved, smiles wide open, to the crowd that held its own in front of a large Notre Dame contingent.

“We’ve had some really good games,” Williams-Flournoy said. “I thought we played extremely well at Purdue, and these girls have had some really good games. I think this one just makes it extremely big because of where Notre Dame is ranked.”

All rankings aside, it was a crucial win in terms of the conference standings. As long as Georgetown stays in contention for the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament that begins in less than two weeks, the Hoyas can not only grab a coveted double bye, but also avoid playing undefeated UConn until a potential championship game matchup.

The Hoyas are in the midst of a final push that features six games in 14 days, including three over the next five days. The Hoyas travel to face Villanova tonight, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. “