Graphic by Charles Nailen/The Hoya /The Hoya Junior guard Narumol Berggren makes a move toward the basket late in the game. Georgetown sank St. John’s 74-56 Wednesday night.

After taking on four elite programs in the past two weeks, the Georgetown women’s basketball team was ready for an easier task. St. John’s provided just the opportunity for a cakewalk, and Georgetown used a solid second half to dispatch its Big East challenger 74-56 Wednesday night in McDonough Gymnasium.

While the Hoyas failed to meet the high level they showed in their 70-50 thrashing of Virginia Tech, the team played capably if not always consistently.

“I don’t think we played that well,” Head Coach Pat Knapp said, “but this team has been causing a lot of problems in this league and is much improved. You can’t scoff at an 18-point victory.”

After St. John’s opened up the scoring with the first basket, Georgetown countered with an 11-point run, leaving the visiting team scrambling. The Red Storm refused to yield so quickly, and despite falling behind by over 10 points early, the visitors went on the attack in the last 10 minutes of the half.

“We were playing very selfishly. We weren’t passing the ball well. We had some good looks that we missed, but most times we weren’t playing together,” Knapp said.

At 5:19, senior center Kati Kurtosi hit a jumper to even the score at 20 apiece. While St. John’s briefly took the lead, it could not sustain its momentum on offense and Georgetown once again went on top. The Hoyas held on to a tenuous three-point lead, 28-25, at the end of the half.

Georgetown was saved in the first half by its strong rebounding, especially on offense. While the Red Storm only mustered one offensive rebound and could not score off second chances, the Hoyas grabbed seven offensive boards for seven second-chance points.

The home team tightened up its game early in the second half and quickly put St. John’s behind it. With sharper passing and 17-of-22 shooting from the stripe, Georgetown ran up the score against a faltering opponent.

“The first 10 minutes of the second half was a totally different story from the end of the first,” Knapp said. “People passed the ball to open players; we took our time, ran our plays and tried to attack inside.”

While the Red Storm slowed down the onslaught with a full-court press that caught the Hoyas off guard, the players eventually regrouped and began to break through it. Georgetown hit an impeached 61 percent of its shots in the second half, going 14-of-23 on the floor. The Hoyas coasted in the final minutes, finishing the game ahead by an 18-point margin.

A key factor in the success was the team’s ability to shut down St. John’s leading scorer and the nation’s leading average three-point scorer, graduate student Kim MacMillan. Shunning the usual zone defense for man-to-man coverage, Georgetown was able to isolate MacMillan and hold her to 5-of-11 shooting and two treys.

“All week we practiced against the screens they put for her. I just trailed her and get on her right side. She chucks the ball from that side, so I tried to stay on her right shoulder,” junior guard Mary Lisicky said.

Senior forward Rebekkah Brunson dominated on offense, pulling down 14 rebounds along with 25 points for a double-double. Brunson showed poise at the foul line, collecting nine points on 12 attempts, a worthy sequel to her 9-of-11 performance against Virginia Tech.

“It takes a lot of practice. We spend a lot of time shooting free throws. In the game it’s mostly about stepping up to the line and knowing you can make it and staying focused,” Brunson said.

Lisicky added 11 points while freshman guard Kate Carlin came off the bench for 12 in a particularly strong day for the non-starters. Freshman forward Angie Clark and senior guard Shemika Stevens anchored the Red Storm offense with 13 points each.

Georgetown moves up to 9-7 for the season and evens out its conference record at 3-3. Sunday’s game against Rutgers will be difficult for the Hoyas as the Scarlet Knights return an excellent roster, if not as imposing as last year. Georgetown will sojourn up to Piscataway, N.J., where Rutgers remains undefeated for the season. The Hoyas, however, have a score to settle after the Scarlet ran roughshod over them as junior guard Cappie Poindexter scored 31 at McDonough last season.

“There is no one player who can match Poindexter one-on-one. We have to play excellent team defense,” Knapp said. “When we’re playing strong team defense, we give ourselves a lot better chances.”