Night and day, yes and no, inside and outside: No matter the pair, you can never have both.

West Virginia (14-7, 5-3 Big East) gave Georgetown a lesson in opposites Saturday evening, using superior rebounding, shooting and free throw work to hand Georgetown (11-10, 1-7) its fifth straight loss, 69-47.

The Mountaineers’ two junior standout post players, Olayinka Sanni and Chakia Cole – both WNBA prospects – neutralized the Hoyas’ leading scorer, junior forward Kieraah arlow. Marlow was only 4-of-16 from the field, for 13 points, as Sanni and Cole combined for 44 on 16-of-25 shooting.

“We go as they go,” West Virginia Head Coach Mike Carey said. “When they’re active inside and we can hit some threes, we can score some points.”

In the early running, it appeared Georgetown had the dynamic duo under control. Using a mix of 2-3 and 3-2 zone defenses, Georgetown effectively denied entry passes, thanks mostly to sophomore center Katrina Wheeler, who played stellar defense at times – key words being `at times.’

Yet again, the Hoyas kept up with a supposedly better team late into the first half before imploding. With the score 19-19 and only 5:55 remaining in the half, the Hoyas appeared to be in control, or at least even, with the Mountaineers.

But, as has happened in three of the Hoyas’ last four games, someone turned off the offensive spigot. Marlow could not find room around double and triple teams inside, and sophomore forward Meredith Cox’s and junior guard Kristin Heidloff’s shots were nowhere near the net.

“We talked about that. It’s got to be more than just Ki [Marlow],” Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said.

With Marlow neutralized by Cole’s and Sanni’s double teams, the perimeter should have come alive, feeding on open looks. But it was not to be, as the Hoyas missed seven straight shots, including four three-pointers from four different players.

“It’s really not all [Marlow] – it’s the people around her,” Williams-Flournoy said. “You can’t pass the ball inside and stand and watch her go to work if she’s getting double-teamed.”

But Sanni and Cole went to work, using their tight defense to run the score to 39-21 at halftime.

“We are a pretty good defensive team,” Carey said. “When we were struggling there on offense, usually defense is what keeps us in the game.”

Complicating matters, Wheeler pulled down only one rebound in the first half and moved gingerly. She has suffered from foot and knee injuries already this year.

Her replacement at center, junior Aminata Diop, fared only marginally better, picking up three rebounds and two points late in the second half.

For everything Georgetown did wrong – rebounding and shooting – West Virginia seemed to offer lessons. Six players had at least four rebounds, and as a team, the Mountaineers shot 25-of-48 from the field, including 6-of-16 from long range. They outrebounded the Hoyas 34-26 and missed only two of their 15 free throws.

For all but six minutes of the contest, the Hoyas played the opposition evenly, as Heidloff notched 18 points and made all six of her free throws, and Cox had 12 points, all on three-pointers. While both had good scoring outings, the team as a whole was inefficient, shooting 15-of-52 for the game, including 6-of-23 on three-point shots.

How or why Georgetown tends to collapse is still a mystery to Williams-Flournoy.

“If we figured that out, we might win a million dollars,” she said. “It’s been going on for a long time, and I have no answer for you.”

The Hoyas will try to improve their fortunes tonight at 7 p.m. in Tampa against the University of South Florida. The Bulls (11-10, 2-5) are just 2-3 in their last five, but topped Cincinnati 74-59 at home and more recently blew out Rutgers 62-40 in New Jersey.