ROGER CHU/THE HOYA

The Georgetown women’s basketball team dropped a tough 80-58 decision Tuesday night in South Bend, Ind., to Big East rival No. 11 Notre Dame (16-4, 5-1 Big East).

The No. 16 Hoyas (14-5, 2-3 Big East) split their two-game road trip, which started with a 49-45 Saturday victory over Providence before the loss to the Fighting Irish.

The Blue and Gray fell behind early and held only one lead in the game at 6-5 after a three by senior guard Monica McNutt with 18:53 left in the first. McNutt, who averages 11.2 points per game on 40.4 percent shooting, was only able to manage seven points on 3-of-9 shooting and missed five of six shots from behind the arc.

Georgetown fell behind by as many as 13 early in the first, trailing 23-10 before going on a 12-1 run to close the gap to two points with 8:06 left in the first half. The Hoyas kept it close for the rest of the half before the Fighting Irish went on a 11-2 run of their own to take a 45-33 halftime lead.

The story of the second half was no different for the Blue and Gray as the closest they came was within nine points with 16:07 left. Notre Dame stretched its lead to as many as 24 and closed out the win at 80-58.

“We got out of our game,” Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “We didn’t play our defense, and on offense we made mental mistakes. Notre Dame is a good team and we had some runs in the first half, but the turnovers and not guarding their shooters really hurt us.”

The Notre Dame offense was led by sophomore guard Skylar Diggins, who scored 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting while knocking down eight of 10 shots from the free-throw line. Junior guard Natalie Novosel also added 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.

The Fighting Irish as a whole shot 54.2 percent from the field including 57.1 percent from long range. The Hoyas, who through 19 games have only surrendered 57.1 points per game, were unable to contain and keep up with Notre Dame’s high-octane attack.

“We just gave up too many open shots. and we had too many turnovers,” Williams-Flournoy added. “We gave up 31 points off turnovers, which is too much.”

Sophomore guard Sugar Rodgers led Georgetown with 15 points and six rebounds, but turned the ball over seven times in the loss. Junior guard Rubylee Wright added 13 points and led the team with seven assists and three steals, but she also committed seven turnovers.

Although the Blue and Gray appeared overmatched in the contest, Williams-Flournoy considers it just another bump in the road amid a difficult Big East schedule.

“It was a loss, but it wasn’t what people look at as a bad loss,” she said. “They’re a very good team, among the top 10 in the country, so it’s not something that makes us worry. We need to concentrate on getting better on our end, but in the Big East there are a lot of difficult games and you’re not going to win them all.”

The Hoyas will look to rebound Saturday at home against Villanova. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at McDonough Arena.