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

Diop Sparks Second-Half Comeback

Trailing 38-30 to Towson with 13 minutes to play and their leading scorer heading to the bench with her fourth foul, things looked dim for the Hoyas.

Minutes later, senior center Aminata Diop came alive for Georgetown with 12 second-half points, and the Tigers’ sparkplug, sophomore guard Shanae Baker-Brice, went to the bench with an upper leg injury.

Baker-Brice’s absence and Diop’s towering presence gave Georgetown the push it needed to rally back and eventually secure a 67-57 win last night at Towson Center in Towson, Md.

“I thought we lost some intensity,” Towson Head Coach Joe Mathews said on the post-game radio broadcast. “They went on a nine- or 10-0 run where they did some pressing. We had three straight turnovers, and we gave them some and-ones. We gave them all the momentum.”

Georgetown’s men’s team was not the only one looking for payback. In last season’s opener, Towson took out Georgetown in McDonough Gymnasium, sucking up all the momentum in the waning minutes despite the fact that the Hoyas lead for most of the contest. In that game, Baker-Brice was the difference – scoring eight points in the final three minutes to seal the Tiger upset.

In this game, senior guard Brina Pollack led the Hoyas at halftime with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting. Sophomore guard eredith Cox hit two three-pointers in 13 minutes of action, and Butler continued to solidify herself as the team’s undersized rebounder, pulling down seven boards.

Familiar sloppy starts have plagued the Hoyas this season, with last night’s game proving to be no exception. As a team, Georgetown made just 8-of-24 shots in the first 20 minutes. Senior forward Kieraah Marlow shot 1-of-5 in the first half but managed a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Georgetown’s 7-of-8 free-throw shooting – much better than its 60 percent season average – kept them on pace with Towson. The Tigers were not much worse, hitting 8-of-26 from the field.

Towson was the better of the two poorly-shooting teams at the end of the half and had a tenuous two-point lead, 27-25, thanks mostly to 4-of-10 shooting from behind the arc and Baker-Brice’s 10 points.

Towson quickly expanded its two-point halftime lead to eight with junior guard Alis Freeman hitting back-to-back three-pointers to open the second stanza and senior guard Holly Mahan hitting another a minute later.

“I felt good about how we came out in the second half,” Matthews said. “We did some things we wanted to do: We got Marlow in foul trouble, [Freeman] hit some shots. It’s one of those days if you told me what production Marlow was going to have, I would have liked our chances.”

Something changed, though, after Marlow picked up her fourth foul with 12:11 left in the second half.

Marlow, superlative in the team’s first four games averaging 17.5 points, was nothing like her usual self. Her fourth foul midway through the second half forced Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy to go to Diop for her post presence. Diop had a first half to forget, going 0-for-2 from the field and picking up two early fouls that forced her to sit a large chunk of the period.

Fortunately for Georgetown, Diop did her best Marlow impression, picking up an and-one and a rebound that led to a Shanice Fuller bucket at the end of the 9-0 Hoyas run that gave the Blue and Gray a 39-38 lead after trailing by six when Marlow left. Diop’s production continued as her quick seven points in two minutes pulled Georgetown ahead 45-40.

“[Diop] outsizes us so much, and [sophomore forward] Kandace [Davis] got four fouls,” Matthews said. “We were fouling too much. We didn’t execute offensively very well and it carried over on the defensive end.”

Towson struggled offensively in the second half, coughing the ball up 14 times thanks to Georgetown pressure that was too much for the depleted Tiger backcourt. Georgetown had turnover problems of its own in the first half but its 11 second-half assists made up for its 11 turnovers.

“We made a conscious effort to pick up the intensity in our man-to-man and full court pressure and it allowed us to get some easy layups – especially when we made the run in the second half,” Williams-Flournoy said in a press release. atthews agreed, saying that Diop was equally effective scoring in transistion and set under the basket.

After their 9-0 run to take a lead, the Hoyas looked like they were going to let the Tigers back in, but sophomores forward Jaleesa Butler and guard Kenya Kirkland clamped down after Towson pulled within 45-43. The sophomore duo combined for an assist, a block, three points and two rebounds in a 10-point run that gave the Hoyas a 55-45 lead with 3:44 to play.

They would never relinquish the lead and led by as many as 12 in the final minute.

Georgetown has a week off before traveling to Fordham for a 7 p.m. tilt next Thursday in the Bronx, N.Y. Last year, Georgetown thumped the Rams 82-52 at home.

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