With a new starting lineup and home-court advantage for the Hoyas, it looked like this Georgetown-Cincinnati game would be different from the Jan. 3 matchup, a 77-55 Bearcat win. But after a competitive first 10 minutes, things started to look ominously familiar for the Hoyas.

Georgetown (11-9, 1-6 Big East) failed to score a field goal over a 12-minute stretch in the first half, and Cincinnati (11-7, 3-4) shot well from the floor to win 80-62 Tuesday night at cDonough Gymnasium.

Georgetown junior forward Kieraah Marlow scored 5:28 into the first half to make the score 10-6. But as soon as the Hoyas appeared to take control of the half, they started playing down to their standing as the second-worst scoring offense in the Big East. Georgetown would not score again until there was 2:53 left in the half, by which time the score was 29-16. Over that 12-minute stretch, the only points for the Blue and Gray came on four trips to the foul line.

“We missed a lot of lay-ups,” Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “Their press didn’t really slow us down; we could get into our offense.”

The game was tied 12-12 with 11 minutes to play in the first half as the Hoyas made 5-of-8 field goals.

“We were a little uncomfortable,” Bearcats Head Coach Laurie Pirtle said. “Georgetown had a good game plan. They were attacking us inside, and we weren’t guarding that well.”

Like the game against DePaul last Saturday, the Hoyas seemed unable to score from any distance, missing 13 straight field goal attempts while Cincinnati went to its bench and its top scorer, senior guard Treasure Humphries.

In just 12 minutes in the first half, Humphries scored 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Humphries, who averages 13 points per game this season, proved to be the quickest player on the floor as she floated effortlessly past Hoya defenders and plucked four steals.

Georgetown’s offensive output was minimal, but the Hoyas had a distinct advantage in rebounding. While Cincinnati averages 11 more rebounds than its opponent per game this season, Georgetown won the battle of the boards 44-32, including 23 offensive rebounds. However, many of those second-chance attempts were wasted – the Hoyas missed at least a dozen shots from within the paint.

Cincinnati took a 44-20 lead into halftime, and all signs pointed to a repeat of the teams’ first meeting. But Georgetown came out of the gate strong, pressing forcefully.

Junior center Aminata Diop was integral in executing the press as her nearly 7-foot arm span confounded the Bearcats’ inbounds plays.

“[Diop’s] big and I think it freaked the kids out a little bit,” Pirtle said. “We’ve got to work on breaking the press a little bit more. It was a good test tonight to see what we need to work on in the future.”

The press worked early, forcing Cincinnati to rush the ball up-court and take poor shots. The Hoyas had the hot hand, making five field goals in the first four minutes, including two three-pointers in a row from freshman forward Meredith Cox, who made just her second start this season. The Hoyas cut the deficit to 15 with 15 minutes remaining, but pressing consistently got the Hoyas into foul trouble in a tightly-refereed game, and they were unable to cut the deficit further.

After both teams racked up 23 combined fouls in the first half, the second half was no different, with three Cincinnati players fouling out. Diop was disqualified on the Hoyas’ side. Three other Georgetown players finished with four fouls and the game finished with 53 total foul calls.

The Hoyas play host to West Virginia (13-7, 4-3) tomorrow at 3 p.m. in McDonough. The Mountaineers have won five games in a row and beat the Hoyas 65-54 last year.