Villanova senior forward Stacie Witman entered Saturday’s matchup with Georgetown averaging 15.6 points per game, but the Wildcats’ leading scorer was still dry from the field at the half with Georgetown leading 26-25. Things unraveled for the Hoyas (10-5, 0-2 Big East) in the second half as Witman heated up and scored 17 points. The victory at the Pavilion in Villanova, Pa., gave the Wildcats (11-5, 1-2) their first Big East win of the season, 57-51. “We had a defensive plan coming into the game and we didn’t come through with it like we needed to,” Georgetown Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. For Georgetown, senior forward Kieraah Marlow led the scoring push with 15 while sophomore forward Jaleesa Butler contributed 12. Marlow gave a strong first half effort with seven points and four rebounds, but it was not enough as the points well ran dry in the second half. The Hoyas did not score between 16:14 and 10:09 in the second half, while the Wildcats turned a three-point deficit into a nine-point lead. “We were able to take advantage of [Georgetown’s] inexperience,” Villanova Head Coach Harry Perretta said. “They played good defense, they’re athletic, but they’re still a young team when they go to their bench. We’re older than we were last year and we were able to take advantage of that.” While things were not working on the offensive front, Georgetown was also unraveling on defense. What was a well-communicating unit that made switches in the first half could not execute in the second. “We did so well in the first half; we thought we were doing a good job, so in the second half we came in and kind of missed communication,” Butler said. “We had a couple of little missed assignments on defense that really hurt us. People were forgetting to yell out screens.” Villanova took advantage of the lapse when junior forward Laura Kurz, the team’s second leading scorer, hit a jumper to bring the Wildcats within one. Witman’s three ball 43 seconds later put them ahead for good five minutes into the second half. Despite the loss, Georgetown continues to receive consistent performances from Butler. The sophomore is second on the team in scoring and rebounding with 8.5 and 7.0 per game, respectively. “Jaleesa’s done a great job, she’s really building her confidence up but there are some things she can do a little better, which she knows,” said teammate Marlow. “She’s actually a tough matchup for other teams because she’s so versatile.” Sophomore guard Meredith Cox got her Big East debut during her first game this year, giving the Hoyas a new shooting spark. “Just putting a shooter in a lineup,” Williams-Flournoy said of Cox’s 29 minutes. “We went back and realized, just in case Villanova played us with a zone – because most teams have been playing us zone this year – we wanted to have a three-point shooter in the lineup.” Cox did not quite provide the needed offense, however, going 2-of-3 from the floor, 1-of-2 from behind the arc. Finding points has been an issue for Georgetown this season as the Hoyas have sputtered in their last two games to find reliable offense. “We’re working on our offense,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We’ve had two games now where our offensive production hasn’t been where we need to be. Defensively, even missing defensive assignments against Villanova, if we come back and score, we can steal a game.” Scoring points will be important as no. 5 Rutgers (13-2, 3-0) visits McDonough Gymnasium tonight, bringing along the conference’s second-best defense and a bevy of Big East all-stars, including senior guards Essence Carson and Matee Ajavon and junior center Kia Ajavon. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m.