From the flurry of fresh faces filtering from film breakdowns to the hectic renovation efforts in the coaches’ offices, much has changed about the Georgetown University women’s basketball team since last spring when the Hoyas finished the season with a 23-12 overall (9-9 Big East) record.
Much has changed, that is, but one key element.
“Identity is identity,” Head Coach Darnell Haney told The Hoya, glancing up from typing out his practice schedule. “I’m expecting the same. We’re going to start everything with how we defend. We’re going to run, we’re going to rebound, we’re going to share and we’re going to let it fly.”
Internal expectations are high for the Hoyas as the start of the 2024-25 basketball season nears. After debuting in the Big East tournament championship and the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament last year amidst immense adversity, Georgetown now ranks fifth in a tough Big East conference in the preseason coaches poll, a five-place improvement.
Now equipped with an experienced leadership core, dynamic young talents and a coaching staff entering its element, the Hoyas feel confident about playing spoiler once again.
Georgetown boasted the No. 9 scoring defense in the nation last year in large part thanks to graduate guard and Big East co-defensive player of the year Kelsey Ransom. She is expected to lead the team on both ends of the court after a stellar season that saw her average 14.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, all the while locking down opposing players with her quickness and defensive instincts.
“She’s the engine in what we do,” Haney said. “She knows how to win now, and she knows what I expect out of her.”
Still, the Hoyas need to replace the production of key defensive contributors behind Ransom. Forwards Graceann Bennett, Mya Bembry and Jada Claude graduated after providing critical rim protection last season, and senior forward and Big East sixth woman of the year Brianna Scott faces an uncertain timeline as she recovers from an ACL tear sustained last postseason.
Haney identified rebounding by committee as a particular focus for the guard-heavy team.
“We just have to really put a heavy emphasis on making sure we put bodies on people and making sure we get to rebounding the basketball,” Haney said.
Expect senior center Ariel Jenkins to step up as a major paint presence after starting in more than half of Georgetown’s games. Graduate transfer forward Chetanna Nweke will also bring a new dynamism on defense after a breakout season at Princeton, where she helped the team to an Ivy League title.
Nweke will assume important leadership responsibilities alongside graduate guard Siobhan Ryan, with both players hailing from NCAA tournament programs.
“They are so unselfish and have a good humbleness to them,” Haney said. “They know the level and the pace we have to go at, so they’ve been vital to us.”
Ryan, who transferred from Richmond after averaging 47% from three, also provides a deep-range threat to a Georgetown team that averaged just 57.9 points per game with a 3-point percentage of 28.9%. Junior guard Victoria Rivera provides another in-house scoring option as she looks to build her glimpses of offensive brilliance into consistently dominant play.
Senior forward Kaliyah Myricks and junior guard Modesti McConnell round out Georgetown’s upperclassmen players, providing important depth and experience under Haney’s system.
Much of the Hoyas’ success this season also hinges on the play of five first-year players, all bringing a different dimension to the team. Guards Jaeda Wilson and Jayden McBride headline the class as the No. 98 and No. 100 recruits in the nation, respectively, according to Blue Star Basketball. Expect Wilson to supply two-way toughness alongside a consistent three-ball and McBride to offer immense positional versatility and basketball IQ as a glue player.
Guard Khadee Hession, the 2024 Broward County, Fla., player of the year, excels most as an up-tempo playmaker who can spark the team on both ends of the court. All-California Interscholastic Federation second-team guard Amanda Ajobiewe’s ceiling as a transition playmaker and defender drew Haney to compare her to a “junior Kelsey Ransom.” And Brazilian forward Alexia Araujo-Dagba, Georgetown’s first international high school recruit since 2018, brings both immense energy on the court and valuable national team experience as she transitions to stateside basketball.
Having this many new faces requires an adjustment period, but both Haney and Ransom said they feel confident in the team’s growing chemistry.
“We did a great job of getting the right type of people,” Haney said. “They were okay with being part of a team and part of a family, and I think that made the adjustment so much easier for the returners, our staff and the players that came in because they were, first and foremost, great people.
“They are running, they are energetic, they are sponges,” Ransom told reporters at Georgetown’s media day. “It’s been such a blessing to be able to guide them and teach them, to see them absorb and learn and fall in love with the game in a different way.”
The team has a busy schedule ahead of them. After the season kickoff Nov. 6 against NCCAA side Virginia University of Lynchburg, Georgetown will play Wisconsin and Temple before traveling to Charlottetown, Canada for the Atlantic Slam W tournament. Other non-conference highlights include a game against Colgate at the Entertainment & Sports Arena before the conference kickoff against juggernaut University of Connecticut Dec. 15.
Only time will tell if the team can maintain its strong level of defending while taking the next steps in working on 3-point shooting, rebounding and overall physicality. For Haney, so long as his team continues to follow “the Georgetown way,” this upcoming season will be a treat.
“Us learning and getting to being the toughest, tightest team in the gym every single night — if we hit those standards, we stay connected, we stay tough and we fight every night and we play Georgetown basketball, what’s supposed to happen is going to happen.”
