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’s Basketball | GU Splits Weekend Home Games

Senior forward Faith Woodard scored 17 points on 3-of-6  three-point shooting in Friday’s victory over Providence. (DERRICK ARTHUR/THE HOYA)
Senior forward Faith Woodard scored 17 points on 3-of-6  three-point shooting in Friday’s victory over Providence. (DERRICK ARTHUR/THE HOYA)
The Georgetown women’s basketball team extended its conference game-winning streak to five games before it snapped Sunday. The Hoyas defeated Providence 72-70 on Friday for their second overtime win of the season, but suffered a disappointing loss to Creighton (17-6, 11-2 Big East) two days later.
Heading into the weekend, the Hoyas (14-8, 6-6 Big East) were cruising on a five-game winning streak capped by a 54-49 victory against rival Villanova, a team Georgetown had previously lost to by 21 points. Carrying that momentum, the Hoyas fought for a close win against the Friars (10-14, 2-11 Big East). In the previous Jan. 10 matchup, the Hoyas routed the Friars 71-39, but Friday’s game was a different story as Providence protected a lead for 25:19 compared to Georgetown leading for 12:46.
“We knew it was a tough game. We knew it was going to be gritty,” senior forward Faith Woodard said. “We beat them by a lot of points last game, but we knew they were going to come strong this game. We just fought the whole game and we just never gave up.”
Georgetown led 30-28 at the half, but Providence came back to score 24 points in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was close; with 00:13 remaining in regulation, Providence made two free throws to go up 64-61. With 00:07 remaining, Woodard grabbed a rebound off sophomore guard Dionna White’s missed three-pointer. She took it to the line and hit a three with two seconds remaining, sending the game into overtime.
With 1:35 left in overtime, Woodard grabbed an offensive rebound and made a layup to tie the game at 70. The Friars did not have a response for senior guard Tyshell King’s jumper at 00:50, which sealed the 72-70 win for the Hoyas. King came off the bench to score 13 points and grab five rebounds for the Hoyas.
Despite accumulating 10 steals, the team was unable to shut down senior guard Sarah Beal, who poured in 24 points against the Hoyas.
“It’s always hard guarding someone like that who can get to basket and has a pretty good mid-range shot. But we knew even if she was hot tonight, everybody else can’t go off,” Woodard said.
The Hoyas had a day to recover, and then went on to play Creighton on Sunday at home. When the two teams played Jan. 8 at Creighton, Georgetown lost 70-68 in overtime. Creighton won that game with senior guard Lauren Works’ three-pointer with 00:11 remaining in overtime.
Once again, the difference in the game came from beyond the arc. Creighton shot 9-of-19 from the three. At the end of the first quarter, the Bluejays were only up by two, but by the end of the half, they held a 37-29 lead.
“I think they continued to push, and they came. … We got caught on some bad screens out there, and next thing you know, you got a 4-point lead — now it’s a 10-point lead —  and you’re playing from behind,” Associate Head Coach James Howard said.
Every time the Hoyas began to climb out of the deficit, the Bluejays responded with a three. Senior guard Marissa Janning made a big difference in the game for Creighton, leading the team with 18 points — nine of which came from three-pointers. Creighton had Janning play off-ball screens to get her open looks.
“And Marissa Janning played well off of it, she had a good game for them versus us [at Creighton] she didn’t score as much. Tonight, I think she had 18, that was big,” Howard said.
Despite being behind, the Hoyas fought defensively to try for opportunity to shorten the lead, forcing 11 steals and recording four blocks.
“At least we kept fighting, we didn’t let down, so that was still good. We’ll just keep doing that and bounce back,” junior forward Cynthia Petke said.
Georgetown will play away at Seton Hall on Friday at 7 p.m. followed by a game at St. John’s on Sunday at 2 p.m.

 

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