Hoyas Topple JMU in WNIT

Finally, after two seasons of disappointing performances in the postseason WNIT tournament, the Georgetown women’s basketball team picked up a win in the preseason WNIT, downing James Madison, 75-70, Saturday night in cDonough Arena.

The win earned the Hoyas a quarterfinal berth in the tournament and a trip to West Lafayette, Ind., where they fell to the nation’s fourth-ranked team, Purdue. Despite the Purdue loss, the Hoyas found themselves in good company, advancing to the second round where each of the other seven quarterfinalists participated in last season’s NCAA tournament.

Last season, the Hoyas dropped their first round matchup in the WNIT to Maryland, 63-46, in arguably their poorest performance of the season. Two seasons ago, the Hoyas fell to Siena, 86-73, in the first round of the WNIT.

“I think we were tired of losing in the [W]NIT, so we wanted to win this game,” junior guard Lesley Walker said, following the Hoyas’ win over James Madison.

Senior guard Katie Smrcka-Duffy led the Hoyas throughout their two-game ride through the WNIT, averaging 20 points per game, which is no surprise considering the junior star led the Big East in scoring last season and led the Hoyas’ scoring in 24 of their 30 games.

After playing a mediocre first half, which saw her shoot a marginal 3-for-8 from the floor and tally only six points, Smrcka-Duffy broke loose in the second half, erupting for 16 points to give her a team-high 22. James Madison forward Shanna Price came off the bench to contribute 22 points for the Dukes in their losing effort.

Smrcka-Duffy’s first half play was indicative of Georgetown’s play as a whole, as the Hoyas found themselves down by four points at halftime.

“We let them take the first punch,” Smrcka-Duffy said. “They were the more aggressive team coming out of the lot. Now we know we need to come out stronger.”

The Hoyas came out roaring in the second half, however, and quickly erased the Dukes lead with a 9-0 run to open the half. The Dukes immediately responded with an 8-0 run of their own to regain the lead.

Smrcka-Duffy ended the Hoyas’ three-minute scoring drought and tied the game, on her only three-pointer of the game with just over 15 minutes remaining in the game.

The next eight minutes saw five lead changes before senior guard Porshia Jones gave the Hoyas the lead, for good, with six and a half minutes left, after hitting a 15-foot jumper. Jones, one of four Hoyas who reached double digits in scoring forthe game, finished with 10 points for the Hoyas.

After a pair of free-throws by Smrcka-Duffy with under a minute remaining, the Hoyas increased their lead to nine, but the Dukes came storming back with one last run, closing the gap to two with 10 seconds left in the game. Jones added a free throw after an obligatory foul, giving the Dukes six seconds to tie the game on a free throw, but Walker came up with a game-ending steal on the inbounds pass to seal the win for the Hoyas.

“We picked up the defensive intensity in the second half, and it really helped us get some key turnovers,” Head Coach Pat Knapp said, pointing out Walker’s steal as an example.

With the preseason WNIT now behind them, the Hoyas prepare for a Friday matchup with Fairleigh Dickinson. The Knights are a member of the Northeast Conference and went 15-11 last season.