Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

With No. 3 Irish Next, GU Downs USF

A will to win. That’s how Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy had described her team’s spirit a few weeks ago, after a win over St. John’s.

“We’re always going to find a way to win,” Williams-Flournoy said. “The way we play defense, we’re always going to stay in the game.”

After losing to West Virginia in dismal fashion on Sunday, the Hoyas (21-4, 10-2 Big East) fought off a pesky South Florida team (14-11, 5-7 in Big East) 54-50 on Wednesday as they look forward to No. 3 Notre Dame this Saturday. The Hoyas caused 23 turnovers against the Bulls, riding their defense and impressive rebounding effort.

 

Going into their game against the Mountaineers, the Hoyas had won 19 of their last 20 games, including a final-minute push to beat the Pittsburgh Panthers 66-63 the previous Wednesday. The Mountaineers, ranked eighth in the nation in the polls but behind the Hoyas in the RPI rankings at No. 12, were undefeated at home, and they cruised into halftime with a 31-19 advantage.

 

The Hoyas, however, showed their resilience, bursting out of halftime with a 14-3 run to make it 34-33. Unfortunately for Georgetown, extremely poor shooting inhibited the Hoyas from ever claiming the lead, and they fell 55-46 in Morgantown. An abhorrent 23 percent shooting was to blame, as Georgetown went 15-of-65 from the field, missing a chance for another huge win.

 

Coming off of that disappointing loss, the Hoyas faced the perfect trap game against USF, sandwiched between the Mountaineers and Fighting Irish.

“We don’t look down to any team,” sophomore forward Adria Crawford said afterward. “This is the Big East.”

South Florida started the game on a 13-5 run, taking advantage of more poor Hoya shooting – the Blue and Gray shot 2-of-11 in the first 10 minutes. Williams-Flournoy’s frustration with her team’s lack of focus was put on display – less than three minutes into the game, the head coach pulled her entire starting lineup from the floor. Exploiting their size advantage – USF featured two starters at 6-foot-3, which is taller than all but one player on Georgetown’s roster – the Bulls passed inside for easy layups while senior guard Allyson Speed had a career game, scoring 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from three-point range.

“Starters weren’t playing hard,” Williams-Flournoy said bluntly. “They didn’t come out to play, and that’s not how we play. As for a player like [Speed], she’s a typical streaky shooter, and once she hit that first shot, she was going to be on.”

Georgetown slowly began to crawl back into the game, using a 16-1 run in the final minutes of the half to take a 26-20 lead into halftime, shooting 9-of-18 from the floor during that span.

 

Eventually going up by nine in the second period, the Hoyas looked poised for another win. But then Speed hit a pair of three-pointers and all of a sudden, USF was again leading by one with less than 10 minutes to play.

 

It was a fight from there on, with no team ever leading by a large margin. The Hoyas showed more hustle and better passing, and despite being undersized, Georgetown had more offensive rebounds (16) than the Bulls (12). The Hoyas also dished 15 assists for 20 total made baskets while committing just 11 themselves for a plus-12 turnover margin. A depleted USF roster – the Bulls had just three bench players – kept the Bulls exhausted.

“We were about as impressive as we can be [in rebounding],” Williams-Flournoy said. “But I think we still missed a lot of [shooting] opportunities.”

The offensive rebounds in particular were crucial. The Hoyas out-rebounded the Bulls 19-17 in the second half, including two key offensive sets with less than four minutes left to play. On the first set, Georgetown grabbed three offensive boards, which led to a score. The second set saw four more Georgetown offensive rebounds and erased crucial time off the clock.

 

“I don’t know how we got more offensive boards,” senior forward Jaleesa Butler said, citing the Bulls’ height advantage.

 

“I think it had a lot to do with positioning,” Crawford added. “We know how our shooters shoot.”

Crawford grabbed six rebounds, scored seven and blocked a shot while playing very aggressively in the post, which was one key to the Hoya win. Butler added five boards while scoring 10 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

Georgetown had nine players on the court for 10 minutes or more, using their deep bench to wear out the USF squad.

“We have to play so many people because of the way we play the offense,” Williams-Flournoy said.

“[The players] are going to get tired and it’s a long season. In the middle of February, it’s always the hardest part . getting over that hump. . It can carry you into March a little bit stronger.”

But South Florida put up a valiant effort. Down 52-50, the Bulls put the game in Georgetown’s hands, fouling junior guard Monica McNutt with 16.5 seconds left in regulation. McNutt, an 88 percent free-throw shooter, calmly knocked down the pair to make it 54-50, sealing the win for the Hoyas. McNutt finished with six points, four rebounds and three steals, while senior guard Shanice Fuller added eight points, four assists and two steals. Sophomore forward Alexa Roche led the team with seven rebounds and added two steals. Freshman guard Ta’Shauna “Sugar” Rodgers led the team with 16 points.

The Hoyas, however, shot poorly once again, firing a weak 9-of-30 from the field, although two important, late three-pointers from Fuller and Rodgers helped lock up the win. In the past two games, Georgetown has shot a combined 35-of-124 – good for 28 percent – after knocking down nearly 40 percent of their shots against Pittsburgh and shooting 41.5 percent on the season coming into Valentine’s Day weekend.

“Does this look like it was any better?” Williams-Flournoy said about her team’s 34 percent shooting effort. “We’re unfortunately in some type of shooting slump that we need to get out of real quick – extremely quick – because we’re too good of shooters. I think now they’re second-guessing themselves too much, and shooters can’t do that.”

The good news for the Hoyas is that Notre Dame had, until Wednesday night, appeared invincible. With just one loss – against No. 1 UConn – the Fighting Irish were cruising toward a second-place Big East finish, barring any apocalyptic loss for the Huskies. Then, Notre Dame traveled to St. John’s, and the Red Storm upset the Irish 76-71. Georgetown defeated St. John’s 67-57 on Feb. 2 on the Hilltop.

“Notre Dame is also ranked. They’re a very good team,” Crawford said.

“We know how good Notre Dame is, but it comes down to us playing defense and rebounding,” Williams-Flournoy said. “You learn from all your losses, and you learn from your wins as well. We learned a lot from tonight.”

Tip-off against the No. 3 Fighting Irish is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday at McDonough Arena.

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