After splitting two home games last week, the Georgetown women’s basketball team prepares for a final push toward the postseason, beginning with a two-game road trip this weekend.
The Hoyas (14-8, 6-6 Big East) take on the Seton Hall Pirates (11-13, 4-9 Big East) this Friday at 7 p.m. before facing the St. John’s Red Storm (16-8, 8-5 Big East) on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The road trip offers Georgetown the opportunity to bounce back from a 67-59 loss to Creighton (17-6, 11-2 Big East) last Sunday.
“We’ll just get back into the gym, watch film, and try to adjust and get ready for the next games because we have two tough ones coming up too,” junior forward Cynthia Petke said after Sunday’s loss.
The Hoyas have been focusing on improving their three-point shooting for the final stretch of the season. They made three of their 14 long-range attempts against the Bluejays, and currently rank ninth out of 10 Big East teams with a 31.2 percent three-point shooting percentage.
“[We’re going to] get back in the gym and continue to work at it,” Associate Head Coach James Howard said. “We took some threes out there that normally we knock down a few more, and I think that was the difference in the game when you look at the box [score].”
The Hoyas made a change in their starting lineup for Sunday’s game, inserting senior guard Tyshell King to replace junior guard Dorothy Adomako. Adomako, the team’s second-leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, has started 77 of her 79 career games in her three seasons, but she did not seem to resent the lineup change, notching a team-high 19 points.
“[It was] just to give Ty an opportunity, she did a great job out there,” Adomako said.
“That was it, you’ve got to give Ty an opportunity, and also get Dorothy ready to get ready to go, and show them a little something different as well,” Howard said of the switch.
Another Georgetown reserve, junior guard Mykia Jones, made a big impact with 20 points, including 5-of-7 three-point shooting, in the team’s previous contest against Seton Hall.
After Friday’s game, the Hoyas will travel to New York City to face the Red Storm. St. John’s defeated Georgetown in last season’s Big East tournament quarterfinals, and prevailed again, 71-66, when the teams played Jan. 13.
Last season’s Red Storm team graduated two guards — Aliyyah Handford and Danaejah Grant — who were both selected in the 2016 WNBA Draft, but the team has come back strong this season. Senior forward Jade Walker leads her team with 14.3 points per game, but St. John’s focuses most on its defense. The Red Storm rank first in the Big East in points allowed per game, opponent field goal percentage and opponent three-point field goal percentage.
The Hoyas are focused on their own defense after they allowed the Bluejays to hit nine three-pointers Sunday.
“Help and recover,” Howard said. “Help each other. I think that’s the biggest thing. We have to have each other’s back. … We’ll continue to work at it. And it’ll be a preparation week, getting ready to go play Seton Hall and St. John’s, so hopefully we can get back on a winning track up there.”
With just six games remaining on their Big East schedule, the Hoyas could be looking ahead to the Big East tournament and a possible additional postseason tournament. Still, they are focused on the present as they make their final push.
“Well we got two big ones coming at Seton Hall and St. John’s, we need those two,” Adomako said. “Finish out the conference strong.”
Georgetown tips off against Seton Hall on Friday at 7 p.m. and against St. John’s on Sunday at 2 p.m. Both games will be televised on the Big East Digital Network.
