The summer was unsettling, with players and coaches leaving the Georgetown women’s basketball program.
Now the seasons are changing, and a new order is falling into routine with the announcement of two new assistant basketball coaches to complete the staff.
“I was looking for a staff that was qualified with experience with the NCAA and the local area, and I wanted very good role models. I think I made pretty good choices,” Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said.
Nikki Reid, a former Hoya, and Christine Winters Scott, a standout for the University of Maryland, will join the recently-installed head coach and assistant coach Alisha Mosley on the sidelines this season. They return to the Washington, D.C.-area after gaining experience with other programs.
Reid graduated from Georgetown in 1993 after she helped lift her team to the program’s best season. The Hoyas that year finished with a 23-7 record and reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.
Reid left the Hilltop with the team’s record for most assists and best three-point shooting percentage and became an assistant coach at Fordham in 1995. Reid has spent some time as guard coach for the Hoyas, but is returning after a two-year stint away, again at Fordham.
“That excitement of going to the NCAA tournament is something that I want to bring back to the program,” Reid said. “Coach Flournoy was my coach senior year here. To come back and work with her, with her being my role model, is something I look forward to.”
Williams-Flournoy and Reid have long-standing connections to each other. Not only did the former coach the latter at Georgetown, they played high school basketball together.
Winters Scott comes to the program with a different local perspective. She graduated from Maryland in 1990 after a strong career that took her to the Final Four in 1989. Subsequently she went to Europe to play professionally in Italy and Switzerland before returning to the U.S. and landing on the coaching staffs of George Mason and Maryland. She has taken her interest off the court, co-hosting “The Roundball Report,” a basketball news program on television in Maryland. Her experience in broadcasting recommended her to Williams-Flournoy, who was looking for a coach with strong public relations skills. While Reid will work as guard coach, Winters Scott will focus on the post players.
“She was a great post player. She’s probably the best player on our staff right now. None of our post players want to go up against her,” Williams-Flournoy said. “It’s always nice to have the public speaker-type coach on your staff, as well as a very good post player.”
The women’s basketball team has dealt with several changes to the roster over the past few months. The Hoyas’ leading scorer and rebounder, Rebekkah Brunson (COL ’04), graduated in May and now plays for the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs.
Head Coach Pat Knapp then departed from the Hilltop to take the reins for the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s team while starting swingman Carmen Bruce transferred to Duquesne. Things have calmed down now, leaving the Hoyas a chance to acquaint themselves with their new coaches.
“I think they have been very receptive to the change. I think they like the coaches. They’ve been very, very good about everything and they’re working very hard,” Williams-Flournoy said.
While Georgetown gears up for Midnight Madness and the official start of preseason on Oct. 16, the team can also look forward to their new schedule. Big East powerhouses, such as national champion Connecticut and Boston College will remain. New additions include Army, Clemson and Utah to the non-conference schedule.
The first exhibition is on Nov. 8 while the regular season kicks off against local rival George Washington on Nov. 19 in McDonough Gymnasium.
“It’s a very competitive schedule, both non-conference and conference,” Williams-Flournoy said. “So we’re going to pull a few tricks out of our back pockets and try to get some things done.”
