After winning one of two games on a road trip to Hawaii before break, Georgetown returned home, defeating four regional rivals and pushing their record to 5-2. In doing so, the Hoyas have established the program’s first five-game winning streak since the 1995-96 season.

After a 59-50 win against Mount St. Mary’s (0-4) on Wednesday night in Emmitsburg, Md., Georgetown is already halfway to achieving last season’s win total only seven games into the season.

Georgetown executed its inside-outside game well against the ount despite missing sophomore forward Katrina Wheeler because of a foot blister. Senior guard Kate Carlin and junior forward Kieraah arlow combined for 35 points and 12 rebounds against Mount St. ary’s.

“Our emphasis is still to get the ball inside and with us being better scorers inside with [junior center] Amanita [Diop], [Marlow], and [sophomore forward Katrina Wheeler],” Georgetown Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said, “it’s opened things up for us on the outside for [junior guard] Kristin [Heidloff], Kate, and [freshman forward] eredith [Cox].”

Heidloff, however, was still as cold from the floor as she has been all season and Cox failed to register a field goal and had to settle for two points off of free throws. Although Diop had one of her best games so far this season, going 6-for-10 from the floor and scoring 14 points, she still managed to pick up four fouls in her 29 minutes – a recurring problem this year.

“The defense still isn’t playing well,” Williams-Flournoy said.

Unlike last year’s troubles, the Hoyas’ defensive problems appear to be more mental than physical since the team has plenty of fresh bodies.

“It’s just you gotta get down and play defense,” Williams-Flournoy said. “Sometimes we get lackadaisical, we don’t compete like we should; we give up offensive rebounds. We play defense for 60 seconds instead of 30 seconds.”

During Wednesday’s game, the defense forced only 17 turnovers to the Mount’s 21 and allowed 15 offense rebounds for the Mount. Yet, where the defense has lapsed, the Hoyas have been able to ride their hot shooting offense.

“We’re starting to get a better feel for each other,” Marlow said. “The chemistry is better now, the freshmen are really starting to pick up and catch on.” Despite deflecting credit, Marlow has been a major offensive contributor, tallying 87 points during the win streak.

The Hoyas never trailed at Mount St. Mary’s after captain Carlin sank a three ball two minutes into the game to give the Hoyas a 3-0 lead. Although the Mount cut the lead that was at one point as large as 15 down to four with 16 minutes to play, six-foot-five Diop took over, scoring eight straight points for the Hoyas. Their lead never shrunk below six after that.

Carlin’s shots have been falling recently; she has made 19 of 34 three-point attempts in the five game winning streak after losing her starting role to Diop. Williams-Flournoy believed Diop was playing better than Carlin at the time and abandoned her initial plan of three guard sets to let the Senegalese star find her place. And, after an awkward first two games, junior center Aminata Diop has fallen into a rhythm, contributing almost 12 points per game in the last four contests.

The extra time on the bench gave Carlin time to reflect. “I’ve been coming in with a new mentality that it’s not who starts the game but who finishes the game,” she said.

Carlin took the opportunity of coming off the bench to improve. “Something comes over me where I need to play better and prove that I am one of the best players on this team and I can contribute on the court,” she said.

Last season, Carlin contributed 9.4 points per game and shot a combined .348 for the year. Now, after starting again at Mount St. ary’s she is second on the team with 12.4 points per game and shooting a healthy .525 from the field.

Whether Carlin or Diop starts on Saturday and whether Wheeler will be well enough to play remain to be seen, but the team is pushing ahead with its own game plan and an expectation to win, although the Hoyas have not won six consecutive games since the 1995-96 season.

“I feel confident about the next couple of games,” arlow said. “I think winning five straight has brought a winning attitude in.”

Despite her players’ confidences, Williams-Flournoy is quick to not jump to conclusions. “We never feel like we should win. We take it one game at a time,” she said.

Georgetown next meets American (2-5) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Bender Arena and travel to Annapolis on Monday to face the Naval Academy (2-4) at 7 p.m.

Hoya Notes:

On Nov. 22, the Hoyas romped over Fordham, 82-52, behind a career-high 29 points from senior guard Kate Carlin. Carlin set a Georgetown record by making nine three-pointers in the contest. The Rams only dressed seven players for the game and only six saw any floor time.

In back-to-back contests on the Nov. 24 and 25 Georgetown pulled away with two close wins in two dissimilar ways. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, the Hoyas trailed by 10 late in the second half but staged a furious comeback against Eastern Tennessee behind Wheeler’s 14 points to hold on for a 53-52 win. East Tennessee had a chance to win the game but freshman guard Siarra Evans missed both free throws with .4 seconds left, handing the Hoyas the contest.

One day later, the Hoyas would be in need of some ice packs after a foul-heavy 81-74 overtime win at Appalachian State. ASU committed 35 personal fouls and Georgetown obliged them, making 45 of its 55 free throws including 16-for-18 during overtime to account for all of its points in the extra period.