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

Women Unable To Fight Irish Second Half Run

Charles Nailen/The Hoya Notre Dame made a second-half comeback on a 23-0 run to beat the Hoyas.

For 20 minutes, the Georgetown women’s basketball team held its own against Notre Dame, perhaps signaling that the team had overcome its inability to keep up with the top teams. For 20 more minutes, the Hoyas turned in another unconvincing performance as the Fighting Irish easily prevailed 74-49 at home on Wednesday night.

Georgetown snapped its four-game losing streak last Saturday, defeating Seton Hall 56-53. Hoping this would spark a turnaround, the Hoyas went to South Bend, Ind. in search of a victory that would even their Big East record at 4-4. Against Notre Dame, which had been ranked earlier in the season, they found the task too difficult. The Joyce Center, filled with 7,187 fans, experienced a competitive, if not well played, first half.

Georgetown jumped out to a slight early lead, but its adversary pulled even at 8-8 after a little over six minutes. Over the next few minutes, both teams battled to pull ahead, but with only 7:45 left on the clock did either team begin to establish any control. For about four and a half minutes, Notre Dame kept the lead, but with less than four minutes remaining, the Hoyas stormed back to tie the game at 22-all with a jumper by freshman forward Carmen Bruce with 3:18 still to play. Junior forward Rebekkah Brunson nailed a free throw and a jumper to cap the Hoyas’ eight-point run. The last 1:43 of the game passed in a defensive stalemate as neither team could successfully put the ball in the basket.

When the buzzer rang, Georgetown led its host 25-22, a small but significant lead. While neither team hit close to 50 percent of its shots, Georgetown still managed to remain slightly ahead. Because the team trailed at the half in each of its recent losses against other strong teams, a halftime lead held the hope the Hoyas could cobble together another decent performance in the second half to walk away with the victory.

Both teams struggled to get off good shots in the first half. Notre Dame went 8-for-28, a low 28.6 percent field goal average. Similar to the game against Connecticut, Georgetown worked hard to stall the other team’s offense, but failed to capitalize on this by running up the score with a red-hot offense. The Hoyas hit 10 field goals on 33 attempts. They looked weak from behind the arc, as sophomore guard Mary Lisicky knocked in the team’s only trey. The Fighting Irish appeared nonexistent from downtown, missing all three of their attempts from the three-point line. Georgetown controlled the glass in the first half, out-rebounding the competition 30-15. The team looked particularly strong on offense, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds compared with Notre Dame, which pulled down just four.

Bruce and Brunson held up the team with nine points apiece. Brunson neared another double-double, grabbing nine rebounds in the first 20 minutes as well. Bruce contributed with six. Lisicky also chipped in six points. Senior forward Nok Duany rounded out the scoring for the Hoyas with two points; the other six players on the team failed to boost the score while on the court. The Fighting Irish looked even weaker, as sophomore forward Jacqueline Batteast alone posted more than five points; she scored eight and grabbed four rebounds. Sophomore center Teresa Borton made her presence felt on defense with three blocks.

The second half belonged solely to Notre Dame as its rival fell apart. At first the game did not seem it would take this direction. Georgetown extended its lead to seven points and dominated the first two minutes of play. Borton and Batteast made some crucial shots that helped turn the tide. A layup from Batteast after 3:15 had passed in the half sent the Fighting Irish up by one, 33-32. The home team would never look back.

For the next five minutes, the Hoyas disappeared somewhere as Notre Dame ruled the game. During a seven-minute period, the Fighting Irish thundered as they came back from trailing by seven, to take a 16-point lead, 48-32. Georgetown missed 10 consecutive shots as its opponent had little difficulty making it to the basket. With 11 minutes left, Lisicky finally sunk a three-pointer to bring the team somewhat back on track.

The Hoyas tried to counter with their own seven-point run, and with a little less than 10 minutes left they had whittled the lead back down into the single digits at nine points, 48-39. The Fighting Irish, however, had inflicted too much damage and the visiting team could not recover. In the final 10 minutes, the home team outscored its beleaguered opponents 26-10.

When the time ran out, Georgetown left the court dismayed at its reversal of fortune, a casualty of a Notre Dame’s forceful offensive and a host of its own mistakes.

The 74-49 edges out the 72-49 loss to Connecticut as the team’s worst defeat of the season, this time by a margin of 25 points. While the Fighting Irish, who have struggled in the Big East this season, move up to 5-4 in the conference and 13-7 overall, the Hoyas have sunk deeper. Their 3-5 record puts them at ninth in the conference, only two spots away from number seven Notre Dame, but the team still has some tough opponents ahead and the win would have reverberated for the team. Georgetown’s season record stands at 12-7, but the team has lost five of its last six matchups.

The Hoyas’ offense self-destructed in the second half as the team failed to net many buckets. They hit 8-of-34 for a 23.5 percent average, worse than one out of every four shots. The team dropped to a 26.9 percent field goal average for the game, well below their season average, which stands close to 40 percent. Notre Dame picked up its game in the second half, sinking 15 of 32 shots, a respectable 46.9 percent. Both teams struggled from the perimeter, and Lisicky shot an uncharacteristically poor 2-for-10 from three-point range. The team combined for four treys out of 20 tries, a 20 percent average. The Fighting Irish only sank two three-pointers, but made up for it with a solid performance from the charity stripe, where the Hoyas have often been generous this year. Notre Dame milked free throws for 20 points in the second half and 26 for the game. This marks the third most free throw points that Georgetown has given away; it allowed both Indiana and Connecticut more than 30 from the line. The Hoyas did look much stronger rebounding. While the team has often failed to box out well, on Wed. they grabbed 54 off the glass to Notre Dame’s 39.

Brunson turned in a sound personal performance centered on the number 12: 12 points, 12 rebounds and her 12th double-double of the season. Bruce turned in a team-high 14 points and also pulled down eight boards. Lisicky came up with 10 points and six assists. Freshman guard Leslie Tyburski grabbed an unusually high 11 rebounds, a career record for her. Turnovers proved the most egregious offense committed by the Hoyas: they set a season record with 28. Lisicky was the biggest culprit with seven, but then again, she does play point guard. Batteast scored 20 points to lead her team and the game and also pulled down nine boards. Four other team members turned in double-digit performances: Borton, Flecky, junior guard Le’Tania Severe and senior guard Alicia Ratay.

Georgetown returns to McDonough Gymnasium on Saturday to take on the Mountaineers of West Virginia at 4 p.m. While the team’s last performance at home, a 91-72 defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh, left many questions about motivation, the players will look hard for answers as they fight for a critical Big East win. The Hoyas remain only two or three wins from the top pack in the conference, but the postseason draws closer and the opponents become more competitive. Both their last victory, against Seton Hall, and this latest loss demonstrated some of the best and worst of Georgetown. The Hoyas likely hope to bring out some of the former this weekend.

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