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

Huskies Show Who is Top Dog

No. 11 Connecticut was no match for Georgetown, at least for 10 minutes.

The women’s basketball team opened up with a seven-point run and had the lead for several minutes before falling behind to the erratic but still dominant Huskies. Connecticut broke away by the end of the first half and kept pace for a 67-49 victory.

“Connecticut is too good of a team,” Georgetown Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “We’re just happy for the way that we started. Connecticut is too good to play the way they were playing.”

The Huskies’ fans came out in full force, filling up both sides of the bleachers in McDonough Gymnasium on Wednesday night. The 1,607 spectators were on hand for a contest marked by bad ball-handling as the two teams combined for 47 turnovers. Connecticut may have been the best passing team in the country last year, but they looked far less polished this time around.

“It starts off with carelessness,” Huskies’ junior guard Ann Strother said. “If we don’t turnover, we always score.”

The Huskies (17-6, 10-2) started cold, struggling to move the ball down the court. The Hoyas (9-14, 4-8) took advantage of their opponents’ early missteps, dictating play for the first five minutes as senior guard Bethany LeSueur charged the basket.

Connecticut managed to get on the board after the first timeout. After playing around with the lineup, putting nine of his 12 players in the game, Head Coach Geno Auriemma found a solid group with a rhythm that edged its way back in the game. With 13 minutes left in the half, the Huskies moved ahead with a three-pointer from Strother. The Hoyas held tough for the next few minutes, matching their guests for each field goal.

Georgetown eventually ran out of steam, failing to score after the 6:27 mark. Connecticut pulled away from 23-20 to 34-20 by the end of the half.

“We have to understand that every team makes runs,” LeSueur said. “We were going to make our runs. We have to stay calm and relax and make sure we run a good offense.”

Both sides scrambled to keep the ball, forcing wild passes or throwing the ball away. While neither team played great basketball, the Huskies were able to put together a run to sap the Hoyas’ morale heading into halftime.

“We’re schizophrenic,” Auriemma said. “We change with each possession. During the possession we go from great to lousy.”

Despite the sluggish start, Connecticut still hit 14 field goals for the half and averaged 46.7 percent from the floor. Georgetown finished the half with only eight field goals, posting a flat 28.6 percent. The Hoyas also surrendered 15 points off turnovers.

The home team opened up the second half with more offensive punch, cutting the deficit down to 11 points, 38-27, after three minutes. Georgetown would not come any closer the rest of the night as Connecticut stayed a step ahead. Strother and sophomore guard Nicole Wolff made a tag team on the perimeter that the Hoyas could not control. Strother finished with a game-high 20 points and Wolff with 10. The Huskies’ 10 points from the free-throw line also helped on the way to the win.

“We did some good things, and we did some bad things,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We just have to learn from it and move on.”

LeSueur remained Georgetown’s most productive player, amassing 18 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Mary Lisicky, who has led scoring in recent games, only managed five points. Freshman forward Kieraah Marlow put up 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Hoyas have now dropped 18 straight matchups with the Huskies, a streak stretching back to Connecticut’s rise to dominance in the mid-90s. Despite strong starts both this year and last year from the Hoyas, the Huskies carried the day both times with superior play and higher shooting percentage. Even though Connecticut looked more disorganized and less self-assured than in past meetings, leading Auriemma to almost walk out at some points, the team had a clear advantage on its host.

“Our defense has been good enough to help us win when our offense isn’t working,” the coach said.

After dropping two games to ranked opponents, Georgetown will face an easier close to its season. The team has wins this season against three of its last four teams. The Hoyas will travel to West Virginia on Saturday at 1 p.m. to face the Mountaineers (14-9, 5-7) in a rematch of their close game on Feb. 5. In that game, Georgetown came away with a 71-65 win. The two squads are now battling for control of the eighth spot in the Big East standings.

“I really hope they learned from these two games. They were two tough games, and we did O.K.,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We have to take the toughness that we brought to these two games and carry it over to the West Virginia came. We can’t back down at all.”

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