Georgetown’s Postseason Run Comes to an End

Ruthie Braunstein/The Hoya Katie Smrcka-Duffy scored 32 points in her last game for the Hoyas. Two days after the Georgetown women’s basketball team avenged a regular season loss to George Mason in the first round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, it got a taste of its own medicine at James adison.

In a rematch of last November’s Preseason WNIT first-round game, which the Hoyas won, the Dukes had four players in double figures and to come away with the 78-74 victory in the second round of the WNIT. Senior guard Katie Smrcka-Duffy single-handedly almost brought the Hoyas back, scoring seven points in the last 22 seconds of the contest, but clutch free throw shooting down the stretch from James Madison iced it for the Dukes.

“Every player we put in the game gave it a great effort,” Head Coach Pat Knapp said. “I’m very, very proud of our team.”

Smrcka-Duffy finished her illustrious college career with a valiant 32-point performance on 14 of 20 shooting from the field.

“Katie played extremely well and she was a real star in the game,” Knapp said. “[James Madison] paid extra attention to her and she still got 32 points.”

But Big East Rookie of the Year, freshman forward Rebekkah Brunson was in foul trouble throughout the game and managed only six points before fouling out. Sophomore forward Zsuzanna Horvath contributed a solid game with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Down 71-67 with 22 seconds left, Smrcka-Duffy hit a jumper to narrow the margin to two. After James Madison converted on two free throws, it applied a full court press, forcing senior Nathalie Bourdereau to call a timeout. However the Hoyas had none left and were assessed a technical foul.

“We were running a full-court play to score a three pointer but they had their press defense,” Knapp said. “The technical fouls in this game were critical.”

Following James Madison’s foul shot, Smrcka-Duffy connected on a jumper with 15 seconds left, but the Dukes’ Jess Cichowicz hit a breakaway layup six seconds later to bring the score to 76-71. Smrcka-Duffy once again gave the Hoyas a glimmer of hope with a three-pointer, decreasing the deficit to two. However, Cichowicz made two foul shots with 2.2 seconds left to keep the game out of reach.

There were 18 lead changes and nine ties as both teams put up a fight throughout the whole game. James Madison took an 11-5 lead early in the first half after a three-pointer from Allyson Keener. Georgetown got its first lead at the 10:49 mark on two free throws from senior guard Dani Ilic, yet neither team could gain a sizable advantage in the half.

With the Dukes up 21-19, Walker scored six of eight unanswered points to help the Hoyas take a 25-21 advantage. They would take that lead into halftime, 34-33 with the aid of two Smrcka-Duffy three-pointers down the stretch.

Both Smrcka-Duffy and junior guard Lesley Walker had 10 points, while Brunson had three fouls compared to two points scored during the first half.

Smrcka-Duffy caught fire in the second half as she kept James adison in check. She made 10 of 13 shots including two threes, but the Dukes had more offensive options. Keener hit two key threes, the latter of which tied the game at 61 with 5:43 left in the game.

“One of our keys was to shut down Keener, but she hit four threes,” Knapp said.

After her last three-point shot, James Madison’s Shanna Price gave her team the lead for good. Senior guard Porshia Jones was then given a technical foul for arguing with the referee and the Dukes hit three of four free throws for the 66-61 lead.

Horvath converted a three-point play to close the gap to two but Shanna Price got a critical offensive rebound on the following possession that led to two successful free throws. Ilic, who missed all four of her previous shots, hit a huge three-pointer with 1:33 left to make it 68-67. A jumper from Price and one free throw from Cichowicz made it 71-67, setting up Smrcka-Duffy’s gutsy efforts.

“They outrebounded us and they penetrated our zone,” Knapp said. “There were also some big shots down the stretch that we missed.”

For the game, the Hoyas shot 48-percent from the field but it was outrebounded 36-28.

Georgetown ends its season with a 17-15 overall record and a second-round appearance in the WNIT.

With the loss, the careers of the Georgetown seniors come to an end. Along with Smrcka-Duffy the Hoyas will lose Ilic, Bourdereau and Jones, all of whom were starters at one point or another in the season.