In its 16th and 17th games of the season, Georgetown women’s basketball suffered two tough losses on a road trip against St. John’s and Seton Hall. The Hoyas lost to the Red Storm 64-41 and to the Pirates 70-65, respectively.

The two losses bring Georgetown’s losing streak to four and drop the team’s record to 7-10 overall and 2-5 in conference play.

Against St. John’s (12-7, 5-3 Big East), Georgetown forced 18 turnovers while committing just 15 of its own, but shot only 27 percent from the field and 22 percent from three-point range.

The Red Storm shot 43 percent from the field and 41 percent from three-point range. Head Coach James Howard recognized the Hoyas need to do a better job making shots.

“If you look at the stat sheet, you can see that we’re taking more shots than our opponents almost every game, but we need to do a better job of capitalizing on our opportunities to score the basketball,” Howard said.

Georgetown also struggled to secure rebounds, making just 31 compared to St John’s 40. Furthermore, the Hoyas only assisted one field goal, whereas 12 of St John’s were assisted.

In the first quarter, St. John’s dominated, ending the quarter on a 9-0 run, bringing the score to 17-6.

At the start of the second quarter, the Hoyas went on an 11-2 run and trimmed the deficit to just two points. However, key three-pointers by St. John’s quickly reversed the momentum. The Red Storm started a 13-0 run of their own, capped by three made free throws with just one second left in the first half, pushing the score to 33-20.

Despite a tenacious and physical third quarter, Georgetown was unable to mount a significant run in the second half, managing to only cut the lead to 13 a couple minutes into the third period. Leading by 17 points, 46-29, entering the fourth quarter, St. John’s all but put away the game with some quick baskets at the start of the final period.

Junior guard Dionna White and senior guard Mikayla Venson carried a heavy load, combining to score 28 of the Hoyas’ 41 points. White contributed 16, five of which came during Georgetown’s 9-0 run to start the second quarter.

The Red Storm were led by starters freshman guard Qadashah Hoppie, sophomore guard Alisha Kebbe and senior forward Maya Singleton, who scored 15, 12 and 11 points, respectively. Singleton contributed a game-high 14 boards. Sophomore guard Andrayah Adams came off the bench to score 12 points in 16 minutes.

Against the Seton Hall Pirates (11-8, 3-5 Big East), Georgetown once again struggled with efficiency, shooting 36 percent from the field and just 19 percent from three-point range. Seton Hall shot 47 percent from the field and made 46 percent of three-pointers. Once again, the Hoyas committed fewer turnovers than their opponents, but the team was outrebounded 32-39 and had six total assists compared to Seton Hall’s 16.

Georgetown began the game sluggishly, and the Pirates jumped to a 14-4 early lead, but the Hoyas fought back to tie the game at 18-18.

“We have a tendency to compete hard after getting behind early,” Howard said. “It shows that there’s fight and that we don’t give up, but we’d like to see our team with more focus to start the game, more urgency from the beginning.”

The two teams continued to trade baskets, but after White converted on a three-point play, the score was tied at 25-25. The Pirates then went on a 9-2 run to end the half leading 34-27.

The Hoyas would trim the lead to five during the third quarter, but the Pirates increased the lead to 13 by the end of the quarter. Georgetown entered the fourth quarter down 51-38.

The Hoyas then began to use a press defense that helped cut the lead to 65-63 with just over a minute left. However, the Pirates made critical free throws, and Georgetown failed to finish what would have been a magnificent comeback, losing 70-65.

Venson led the way for the Hoyas with a career-high 28 points, 15 of which came during the fourth quarter comeback.

Howard was impressed with the Venson’s play in the fourth.

“Mikayla willed us back into that game with big shot after big shot,” Howard said.

White made 13 points and junior forward Cynthia Petke finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

“We need this kind of effort from Mikayla every night for us to be at our best, because when Mikayla, Dionna and Cynthia aren’t scoring well, we’re not doing well,” Howard said.

Up next on the Hoyas’ schedule are the Marquette Golden Eagles (13-5, 7-0 Big East), who are sitting on top of the Big East conference. The game will begin Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. in McDonough Arena.