After splitting a pair of road games in the past week, No. 16 Georgetown (14-5, 2-3 Big East) returns to the friendly confines of McDonough Arena for a Saturday-afternoon date with Big East foe Villanova (8-10, 0-5 Big East).

Georgetown is hungry to return to .500 in conference play after Tuesday night’s lopsided defeat against No. 11 Notre Dame, in which the Lady Hoyas were torched by the Fighting Irish for 80 points, well above their average of 57.1 points allowed per game.

“The team will respond with the same intensity we’ve seen this season. Notre Dame was a good team so we’re not hanging our heads, we’re looking to get better,” Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “Our captains and leaders will step up as they have all season.”

Rather than attempt to tweak its strategy, Georgetown intends to return to its winning ways by staying true to the team’s intense, defensive-minded identity. The cellar-dwelling Wildcats, whose anemic offense averages a Big East-worst 50.7 points per game, appear to be a good rebound opponent for the Hoyas, whose stingy defense has been the hallmark of their success throughout the year. The Blue and Gray are 14-1 when they hold their opponents to under 65 points, but 0-4 when allowing more than 65 points.

“After a loss we don’t change for the next opponent,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We just need to improve our performance on defense by knowing where the shooters are and defending the open man. … We only try to change what we can control.”

Villanova, whose only road win of the season came at Ivy League opponent Penn, has lost seven of its past 10 matchups, while Georgetown is the winner of seven of its past 10 and is 8-1 at McDonough Arena. While Villanova undoubtedly provides a less daunting overall challenge than Notre Dame, the visitors may present a different sort of wrinkle.

“It’s very difficult to dictate the pace against a team like Villanova,” Williams-Flournoy said. “On offense we need to take care of the ball and execute.”

The Hoyas’ head coach pointed specifically to the visitor’s cautious strategy of preventing quick transition points, which could make life complicated for the Blue and Gray offense.

“I’ve seen them on tape and they don’t go after offensive rebounds; they shoot and all five are running back in transition no matter if the ball goes in or bounces out,” Williams-Flournoy said. “That makes it difficult for us to set the pace, but we will play our game even if it means more half-court sets than we usually have.”

Georgetown will likely rely on the scoring prowess of sophomore guard Sugar Rodgers against Villanova’s defense, which is third in the Big East with only 54.1 points allowed per game. Rodgers’ team-best 18 points per game is second only to Connecticut’s senior forward Maya Moore in the conference, and she was named to the Wooden Award midseason top 20 earlier this month.

Meanwhile, sophomore Laura Sweeney averages 10.1 points per game to lead a balanced Wildcats offense whose top three scorers are separated by only 1.1 points per game.

The Blue and Gray will be searching for a repeat of last year’s success against Villanova when they notched a 70-54 win on the road.

Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. tomorrow at McDonough Arena.