WOMEN'S BASKETBALL | Rodgers Sets Record in Loss to UNC

Amid the doom and gloom of the No. 25 Georgetown women’s basketball team’s (2-1, 0-0 Big East)  63-48 loss at North Carolina (3-0, 0-0 ACC), Wednesday night, senior guard Sugar Rodgers made history — becoming the all-time leading scorer for the Hoyas.

It was the first loss of the season for the Blue and Gray, who exited the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament semifinals with the loss. Coming off a win over No. 17 Delaware, Georgetown was plagued by poor shooting from both field and the charity stripe. 

The Hoyas barely shot better than 20 percent — 19-for-89 — from the field and less than 50 percent — 13-for-28 — on free throws. Additionally, the Hoyas were outrebounded by the Tar Heels, 53-42.

Georgetown took a 2-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. But the Hoyas were held scoreless from the field for almost the next ten minutes as the Tar Heels built up a sizable advantage. 

The Blue and Gray responded and went on a 9-2 run, during which it held Carolina scoreless for more than five minutes. And with 3:48 left in the first half, Georgetown crawled to within one — the closest it would come for the rest of the game — off of a Rodgers trey. 

The Hoyas kept the Carolina lead at one until Tar Heels’ redshirt freshman guard Megan Buckland hit a three with 13 seconds remaining in the first half. Buckland’s basket gave UNC the 26-22 lead going into halftime.  

Despite being outrebounded, 31-22, and shooting a measly 20.5 percent from the field in the first half, Georgetown hung tight with the Tar Heels with aggressive defense, which forced 21 North Carolina turnovers in the first half alone. 

The  second-half story was different, with the Blue and Gray coming out of the locker room flat and allowing a 10-4 Carolina run that built up a 10-point Tar Heel advantage. 

With 13 minutes remaining in the game, North Carolina took a 14-point lead on a three-pointer, but Georgetown battled back with a 6-0 run, closing the gap to 44-36. Stellar shooting at key points by the Tar Heels kept the Hoyas from regaining any momentum. 

On the game, Georgetown forced a staggering 35 turnovers but gave the ball away 20 times itself. Moreover, the Blue and Gray gave up 10 three-pointers to the Tar Heels.  

Rodgers led the Hoyas in the loss, scoring 22 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Junior forward Andrea White also contributed 11 points and six boards, but Georgetown received little point production outside those two, with seven other Hoyas combining for just 15 points. 

“Our inexperience was our downfall today. When you play a historic program like UNC, you can get caught up, and our kids played UNC the program instead of the game tonight,” Head Coach Keith Brown said in a statement after the game. “When you turn a team over 35 times, you should win the game, but we need to do a better job of making layups and hitting free throws.”

That didn’t mean the Blue and Gray had nothing to celebrate, however. When Rodgers hit the first of two free throws with 3:45 left in the second half, she scored her 1,886th career point. With that, she became Georgetown’s all-time leading scorer. 

The Hoyas will have to find more production from other players if they are to dispatch LSU Monday night at McDonough Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.