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 | Offensive Struggles Lead to 0-3 Weekend

CLAIRE SOISSON/THE HOYA Junior guard Katie McCormick led the Hoyas in points against Temple and Kansas, scoring 10 points and 13 points, respectively.
FILE PHOTO: CLAIRE SOISSON/THE HOYA
Junior guard Katie McCormick led the Hoyas in points against Temple and Kansas, scoring 10 points and 13 points, respectively.

The Georgetown women’s basketball team traveled to Lawrence, Kan., to compete in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge last weekend. The Hoyas (2-4) were winless in their three contests, facing staunch opposition from Temple, Alabama and Kansas.

While a winless campaign was not how the Hoyas envisioned the weekend, the team reflected on the positive developments that they could take away from the tournament as they move forward in their season.

“We learned a lot and we just came together as a team,” freshman center Yazmine Belk said. “We helped each other. Whenever someone’s head was down, we picked them up.”

Georgetown focused on what the team was able to learn from playing tough nonconference teams.

“We struggled in some areas, but we progressed game by game, going from our defense to our offense to our presses,” junior forward Logan Battle said. “Everybody learned a lot going from game to game and it showed.”

The Hoyas tipped off against the Owls (2-3) on Friday night to start their weekend tournament. After falling behind 14-5 on a barrage of Temple three-pointers, Georgetown went on an 8-0 run of their own led by junior guard Katie McCormick’s back-to-back deep three-pointers.

Despite Georgetown’s early offensive success, Temple’s swarming defense and quickness to the ball held Georgetown to just a 33.3 percent field goal percentage for the game.

Heading into halftime with a 43-32 deficit, the Hoyas looked to improve on their rebounding strategy, having yielded 17 offensive rebounds to the Owls compared to their own two rebounds. However, ultimately, Temple outrebounded Georgetown 51-39.

Georgetown also struggled to find the elusive offesnive momentum shift for the team during the second half and the team eventually fell 81-58. McCormick, junior forward Dominique Vitalis and sophomore forward Faith Woodard each added 10 points for the Hoyas in the losing effort.

Less than 24 hours later, the Hoyas were back in action in their second game of the tournament, facing off against the Crimson Tide (3-2) on Saturday evening. After initially falling behind 9-2, a layup from Battle and a three-pointer from freshman guard Dorothy Adomako cut the deficit to two points after five minutes of play.

The Hoyas continued to play strong defense against the Crimson Tide, but went cold from the floor, stifled by a four minute scoring drought and a 32-19 lead for Alabama. Although the Hoyas were able to put up three-pointers right before the half, they were matched by the Crimson Tide and the Hoyas went into the break trailing 40-27.

In the second half, the Hoyas were once again unable to turn defensive stops into points on the other end. At the 13 minute mark, the Hoyas manufactured a much needed run, keeping Alabama from scoring a field goal for five minutes while cutting Alabama’s lead to eight points on a three-pointer from McCormick.

The Hoyas continued to stifle the Crimson Tide’s shooting from the floor, but fouls and subsequent free throws from Alabama ultimately spelt doom for the Hoyas’ comeback effort.

Georgetown went cold from the floor in the final minutes of the game while ceding 13 points to the opposition at the line. McCormick once again led Georgetown scorers with 13 points in the 72-58 loss.

In the final game of the Naismith Challenge, Georgetown played the Jayhawks (4-1), the hosts of the tournament. In a back-and-forth first half, the Hoyas held a 13-7 lead at the 11 minute mark led by three-pointers from junior forward Brittany Horne and McCormick.

However, once again, fouls were an issue for Georgetown and the Jayhawks were able to get a small lead off of four consecutive free throws toward the end of the half. The first half ended in favor of the Jayhawks as Kansas senior guard Asia Boyd capitalized on an offensive rebound and hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the half to give Kansas a 26-17 lead before the break.

A cold shooting stretch to open the second half put the Hoyas in a hole, and with 7:05 left in the game, Kansas enjoyed a 48-29 lead, supported by eight shots from the free-throw line.

While the Hoyas’ defense was able to force 21 turnovers, Georgetown struggled from the floor all night, shooting 23.3 percent from the field, resulting in a 55-42 loss.

Belk led the way for the Hoyas against Kansas with her first career double-double, dropping 11 points to go along with 11 rebounds.

Head Coach Natasha Adair liked the improvements she saw in her team over the course of the tournament, especially on the defensive end.

“Every day, [our goal] was to get better,” Adair said. “I saw our defense [improving] for the most part, because it was a different scheme per game and you have to adjust on the fly. At that point, you figure out what your team can retain and what the learning curve is, because you don’t get to practice these certain situations.”

Adair was pleased with what she saw from the freshmen up to this point in the season, but added that the faster those players fully embrace and mesh with the team dynamic, the quicker their improvement will be.

“The sooner that they can [embrace the team dynamic], the better off we’re going to be, because that adds to the depth [and] that adds to the versatility,” Adair said. “Now you have other people that are going to step up and have that confidence and it’s all about building the confidence.”

With Big East play rapidly approaching, Adair believes this tournament has been a good trial for the type of basketball they will see from their conference opponents.

“When you look at Temple, you’re going to see that same speed, athleticism and aggressive play when we’re playing St. John’s or Seton Hall,” Adair said. “Richmond and the style of offense they play, we’re going to see that when we go to Villanova.”

The Hoyas will return to the court after the Thanksgiving holiday to face Florida in McDonough Arena on Friday at 7 p.m as they look to improve their record before conference play begins.

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