In front of a sparse crowd at McDonough Gymnasium, the Georgetown women’s basketball team inaugurated its 2000-2001 season with a 59-46 exhibition win over the Swedish league team, EOS Malvas. With the help of rookie forward Rebekkah Brunson’s solid performance, the Hoyas overcame poor shooting, nerves and a late run by the Swedish team.

“I was disappointed with how we executed at the end of the game and our poor shooting,” Head Coach Pat Knapp said. “We got outplayed in the last 10 minutes of the game.”

Georgetown started the game with a backcourt of junior guard Lesley Walker, sophomore guard Shawntese Charles and All-Big East second team selection, senior guard Katie Smrcka-Duffy. The frontcourt consisted of forwards senior Nathalie Bourdereau and Brunson.

EOS Malvas came out less nervous as it opened up leads of 4-2 and 6-5 at the start of the game. Sloppy fouls and subpar shooting dominated the first 10 minutes in which the Hoyas managed only 13 points. On one occasion, the team forced three straight turnovers on the Swedes, but were unable to connect on a single point at the offensive end.

“It’s probably normal to get the jitters for the first exhibition game,” Knapp said.

While Georgetown’s shooters could not seem to knock anything down, the frontcourt was able to establish a strong presence in the lane. Brunson debuted with a strong 12 point, 12 rebound game, with most of her scores coming as the result of hustle.

“Becky was very active and you’ve got to give her a star for the evening. Her second efforts were outstanding,” Knapp said.

Junior Zsuzsanna Horvath, who was playing her first game as a Hoya, was another physical presence down low. Horvath, who was redshirted last year, had 6 points and 5 rebounds in 14 minutes of play.

The Hoyas gradually broke out of their offensive funk and held a 33-18 lead at halftime. Georgetown’s outside shooters woke up slowly as they added four three-pointers in the half. The team’s defense held Sweden to 28.6 percent shooting from the field and the Swedes shot themselves in the foot, making only six of 14 free throws.

While Brunson continued to hold her ground in the paint in the second half, Smrcka-Duffy overcame a poor first half of shooting and ended up with team-leading 15 points, nine of which came on three-point shots. She also dished out six assists and raised havoc on Sweden’s offensive plans with six steals.

“Katie always plays hard. She didn’t shoot as well as she usually would, but she always sparks us with her effort,” Knapp said.

Senior guard Porshia Jones added eight points, and sophomore guard Joi Irby, who was also redshirted last year with an injury, put in seven.

The Hoyas, who were up by as many as 23 points in the second half, slowed down and let EOS Malvas come to within 10. EOS alvas’ strong run helped them outscore Georgetown 28-26 in the second half.

The Hoyas ended the game, shooting a poor 31.9 percent from the field. But they were active on defense, with 18 steals and 7 blocks.

“[EOS Malvas] scored only 46 points but we gave up too many backdoor layups,” Knapp said. “But I’m more concerned about our execution on offense.”

While the Hoyas were victorious, they did not accomplish the goals Knapp set.

“Our goals were to have less than 12 turnovers, but we had 20. We wanted to outrebound them by 10 and hold them to single-digit offensive rebounds, but we didn’t,” Knapp said.

Georgetown, which next plays James Madison on Friday, will have to improve some things.

“We need to execute better on offense, foul less and rebound better,” Knapp said.