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 | Hoyas Routed at McDonough

There is no real way to sugarcoat the Georgetown women’s basketball team’s 57-44 loss to Villanova Saturday at McDonough Arena.

The visiting Wildcats (18-7, 7-5 Big East) dominated the Hoyas (13-12, 4-8 Big East) in nearly every aspect of the game en route to an easy road victory.

“They can shoot the basketball — that’s what they do. We say we defend, rebound and share the ball, but we didn’t do what we do. That was the biggest [difference],” Head Coach Keith Brown said. “We have to keep working hard and figure it out. [The rest of the season] is going to depend on the seniors and what they do and how much they want to win and how much they want to get to some postseason type of play.”

Georgetown — in the midst of a four-game losing streak — struggled to keep up with Villanova’s high-powered offense. Both teams got off to a relatively slow start, though, with the Blue and Gray tying the game at seven after a layup by senior center Sydney Wilson with 13:46 left in the first half.

But Villanova’s shooters heated up after that point — especially from three, as the Hoyas’ slow defensive rotation allowed the Wildcats to drain treys on seven of their last eight possessions to end the first half. Meanwhile, Georgetown struggled on the offensive end, managing just two points in the final eight minutes of the first half.

“All of [Villanova] can shoot the ball. We knew that coming in,” senior shooting guard Sugar Rodgers said. “We can contest their shots, but regardless [of] if we contested them they were making them — they were on fire. If someone is on fire, you can’t put that out.”

Georgetown struggled to get any sort of offensive rhythm in the first half, proving unable to exploit their large size advantage. Wilson did have some success, tallying eight first-half points, but as a whole the Blue and Gray failed to get to the line and establish an inside-outside game to find open shooters.

After shooting 50 percent from behind the arc, the Wildcats took a commanding 35-14 lead into halftime. Villanova outrebounded the Hoyas 18-14 in the first half and forced seven Georgetown turnovers.

“I think we knew the game plan, but we really didn’t execute,” Wilson said. “We knew we had to get out on shooters. We knew what they were going to do — we practiced it, and we did everything to prepare.”

Villanova opened the half by extending their lead to 24 on another three-ball, but Georgetown began to be more effective after that point in pressuring shooters and limiting long-range looks. Nonetheless, the damage had already been done.

“I don’t think we got to their shooters enough [early]. Their offense is extremely hard to guard,” Brown said. “But in the second half we made more of an effort to get to the shooters.”

The Hoyas tried to whittle the visitors’ lead down as time went on, but they were ultimately unable to get within striking distance. Rodgers led Georgetown in their attempted comeback, as she exploded for 19 of her 21 points in the second half. Still, despite a nine-point run by the Blue and Gray to end the game, they would end up falling 57-44.

“Because we got to the shooters in the second half, we were able to get out and get in transition,” Brown said. “Sugar had the opportunity to get some space and hit a couple shots.”

In addition to their incapability of pressuring the Wildcat shooters, Georgetown’s defense also only caused Villanova to cough up the ball seven times, far from their average of 22 forced turnovers a game.

Rodgers’ 21 points led all scorers, and she also added nine rebounds in the loss. Wilson finished with 10 points in addition to matching Rodgers with nine boards.

Lauren Burford led the way for the Wildcats with 15 points.

“I think I played okay, but I could have done more,” Rodgers said. “I could have rebounded the ball more. I could have shared the ball a little more. I played a decent game.”

The Hoyas will look to bounce back and end their four-game skid next Saturday at Pittsburgh. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.

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