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

Hoyas Squander Big Halftime Lead

Freshman sensation Ta’Shauna “Sugar” Rodgers eclipsed 20 points for the second time in as many games for Georgetown (1-1), but a 29-point performance from junior guard Dawn Evans and a late rally earned the James Madison Dukes (1-0) a 79-76 home victory over the Hoyas on Wednesday.”Unfortunately, it’s a game of runs, and they made some runs, we made some runs back and then we just let them get ahead by not rebounding and not defending at the end,” Georgetown Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “And you can’t give a kid 29 points.”

Evans’ performance proved to be the difference. The junior guard capped a 21-10 rally by notching the Dukes’ final seven points in the last minute to spoil career highs from Rodgers and sophomore guard Rubylee Wright.

Rodgers followed a 21-point debut with another impressive offensive outing. The Hoya offense ran through the freshman, who shot 6-for-20 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the line for a team-high 22 points. But as impressive as Rodgers has been thus far, Williams-Flournoy warned against her team becoming too reliant on a freshman scorer.

“[Rodgers] is doing what she’s supposed to be doing, but we really need some other kids to step up,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We have too many other kids who can give us points on the board every night. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have three or four kids in double figures every night.”

Wright provided Georgetown with a second double-digit scorer Wednesday night, dropping 10 of her career-high 15 in the first half as the Hoyas built up a 46-32 halftime lead. The point guard struggled with her shooting last season (28.5 percent), and instead made an impact with her floor vision and playmaking ability. After a year in the Hoyas’ system, however, Wright feels ready to contribute further in her sophomore campaign.

“Me being a freshman last year was tough, and just getting the system was tough,” Wright said. “I think once I got in good with [the system] and understood what I was doing, it made it a lot easier for me to play my game.”

Georgetown jumped on James Madison from the start. Rodgers knocked down a trey off the tip, and the Hoyas held the Dukes scoreless for 4:05. Georgetown led 23-9 at the 10-minute mark and maintained at least a five-point advantage the remainder of the half en route to a comfortable 14-point halftime lead.

By the break, the Hoyas had outrebounded (24-19), outshot (41.7 to 38.5 percent) and forced more turnovers (12-8) than the Dukes had. Georgetown appeared well on its way to winning its second of six straight games away from home to start the season.

But in the second half, everything changed for the Blue and Gray. The Dukes started taking care of the ball, cutting their turnovers to eight in the second half. James Madison took control of the glass, out-rebounding Georgetown 24-19. And in the game’s final five minutes, the Hoyas forgot how to make the defensive stops that had keyed their early advantage.

“We forced them into 20 turnovers, we were running in transition, we were defending,” Williams-Flournoy said. “It was just a few times we had slip-ups on the defensive end that cost us.”

Trailing 66-58 with just over five minutes to play, James Madison scored on 11 of 13 possessions down the stretch. A pair of free throws from sophomore forward Kanita Shepherd gave the Dukes a 72-71 lead, their first of the night. When Wright found Rodgers for a three to regain the lead, Evans took over, answering with a trey of her own to take the lead for good.

The Hoyas came up empty on their next possession, and Evans hit both free throws for a 77-74 advantage. A layup from Hoya senior guard Shanice Fuller and a quick foul sent Evans back to the line, where she again knocked down both shots. Georgetown got the ball back with seven seconds to play and a chance to tie, but Wright’s three with a second remaining bounced off the rim.

“I thought we just lost focus of what we needed to do,” Wright said of the Hoyas’ late stumble. “I think [James Madison] played extremely well, but we didn’t do what we need to do in the ending stretch of the game.”

This weekend’s Basketball Travelers Invitational Classic in West Lafayette, Ind., offers the Blue and Gray several opportunities for redemption. Tonight at 7 p.m. Georgetown tips off against Dayton (1-1), who has already upset No. 10 Michigan State and fell just short of knocking off defending national runner-up Louisville. The Hoyas then square off against Seattle (0-2) before closing out the weekend with a Sunday afternoon matchup against host Purdue (1-0).

Playing three games in as many days will take a toll on Georgetown, so Williams-Flournoy foresees plenty of opportunities for reserve players to make an impression. One thing that Georgetown’s coach doesn’t anticipate, however, is changing the way her team plays.

“We really don’t want to change up what we do, so our bench is really going to have to be ready,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We’re going to press and run. We can’t go in and say, `We’ve got to save up our energy for the next game.’ We’ve got to win one game at a time, and we’ve got to win with the way we play.”

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