After a strong opening by the Marquette University Golden Eagles , the Georgetown University Hoyas delivered an admirable response as the game continued on. The Hoyas’ suffocating defensive performance, however, wasn’t enough to turn the ship around in a 55-50 loss to the Golden Eagles.
After Marquette (18-8, 10-5 Big East) jumped to a 10-2 edge in the match’s first few minutes, Georgetown (11-15, 4-11 Big East) responded with a 17-7 run of their own and held the Golden Eagles scoreless for over six consecutive minutes. Led by graduate guard Kelsey Ransom’s 22 points and a sustained effort on the offensive glass pioneered by senior center Ariel Jenkins, the Hoyas found themselves in a back-and-forth affair with the Golden Eagles for the final three quarters.
Marquette’s high-level ball pressure early in the game clearly made Georgetown uncomfortable, forcing turnovers and missed shots before Ransom finally got the Hoyas on the board over three minutes into the first quarter.
The Golden Eagles’ perimeter defense forced Hoya guards to operate east and west, holding them outside of the paint and making life difficult early on for Georgetown. After a Jenkins putback and a 3-pointer from first-year guard Jayden McBride, the Hoyas were just 3 points behind the Golden Eagles at 10-7.
Immediately after three quick buckets, the Hoyas began turning the ball over again, as pressure from Marquette forced ill-advised passes that turned into fastbreak opportunities and helped them grow their lead to 17-7.
However, Georgetown soon turned up their defense as well, holding Marquette scoreless for the final 4:09 of the first quarter. Struggling to find rhythm in their half-court offense, the Hoyas benefited greatly from strong offensive rebounding in the first quarter, scoring 6 second-chance points to keep themselves in the game, ending the quarter down 17-13.
Forward Skylar Forbes, Marquette’s leading scorer, picked up her second foul less than a minute into the second quarter, putting her in foul trouble and taking her out of the game for the half. Georgetown immediately took advantage of her absence, with first-year guard Khadee Hession sinking a 3-pointer to give the Hoyas their first lead of the game at 18-17, concluding the 11-0 run following their 17-7 deficit.
Marquette guard Jaidynn Mason immediately responded with a strong drive to the rim and followed up with an and-1 layup to push Marquette’s lead to 22-18 after making the free throw.
The rest of the second quarter was back and forth, with Ransom’s ability to get into the paint and draw fouls racking up most of Georgetown’s points. Coming into the contest ranked first in the Big East in free throws attempted per game, Ransom helped the Hoyas get into the bonus with 3:37 left in the quarter. Following Ransom’s layup to close the half, Marquette led 28-26.
The Hoyas got on the board following a beautiful pass from junior guard Victoria Rivera to baseline-cutting first-year forward Alexia Araujo-Dagba for an easy bucket. However, Marquette responded with two quick threes, pushing their lead back up to 35-28. Georgetown’s offense out of halftime was slow, with Araujo-Dagba’s bucket being their only field goal until the 6:07 mark.
After Marquette’s run, Ransom showed off her two-way talent by poking a ball loose and converting for two on the other end, cutting the Hoyas’ deficit back to 5. Ransom then forced a jump ball on the next possession, returning possession to the Hoyas. Down the stretch of the third quarter, Georgetown seemed to be emphasizing their “motion” offense, involving quick passes, off-ball screens and rim cutting. Cutting to the rim off a screen, Araujo-Dagba hit a layup to cut the Golden Eagles’ lead to just 1.
The Hoyas began the fourth quarter down by a single point. The game grew increasingly physical and points became very sparse, with only 3 points combined in the quarter before Rivera hit a huge 3-pointer — her first points of the game — to give Georgetown a 44-43 lead at the 5:59 mark in the fourth, sending McDonough Arena into a frenzy.
The game soon devolved into a free-throw battle, with 13 of the 24 total fourth-quarter points coming from the stripe. Ransom went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line to lower the deficit to 51-50 with 1:46 left. After getting back-to-back stops, the Hoyas were unable to get the ball back to Ransom, with Hession missing a pull-up jumper and Marquette blocking Rivera’s final 3-point attempt with six seconds left on the clock, culminating in a 55-50 win for the Golden Eagles.
Despite the loss, the Hoyas got yet another great two-way contribution from Ransom, who had 22 points, 3 rebounds and an assist, while making 14 trips to the charity stripe. Araujo-Dagba contributed with 8 points and led the Hoyas with a plus-minus of 6.
Head Coach Darnell Haney said Georgetown’s upperclassmen players have an important role to play moving forward.
“We gotta keep pushing, we’re right there,” Haney told The Hoya after the game. “Our veterans gotta make sure they’re savvy enough and making the right plays.”
Georgetown will look to rebound from their fifth straight loss Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. on the road against St. John’s University (14-12, 4-11 Big East).