A promising week for the Women’s Basketball team turned sour Wednesday night, as the Hoyas lost to No. 23 Notre Dame 66-52. Behind a record setting performance from Mary Lisicky and another great effort from Rebekkah Brunson, Georgetown won an emotional game against a strong Villanova team Saturday. The win raised hopes that they could defeat a ranked opponent for the second time this year and improve their chances of making the national championship tourney. Those hopes were dealt a blow in Notre Dame-Georgetown suffered through its worst shooting game of the season and dropped to 4-6 in the Big East.
Georgetown struggled against Villanova, but managed to perservere and claim a dramatic win 53-48 at McDonough, as Mary Lisicky continued her unparalleled career at the Hilltop. The junior set Georgetown’s all-time three-point shooting record during the contest, connecting on three treys to finish with a total of 13 points. Lisicky also grabbed 11 rebounds en route to her first career double-double.
In a game featuring nine lead changes and four ties, the Wildcats got on the board first with a lay-up by star point/forward Courtney Mix, and Georgetown was fortunate that Mix, who leads Villanova in several statistical categories, to 12 minutes during Saturday’s game. The Hoyas responded with a 14-4 tear behind two Lisicky three-pointers and a series of jump-shots. It was then Villanova’s turn to rally, as the Wildcats, employing dead-eye distance shooting, went on a 12-6 run. Neither team was able to score for the next five minutes, and the half ended with both squads playing evenly, as Villanova took a one point lead heading into the break.
Rebekkah Brunson scored 15 of her 24 points in the second half, again putting the team on her back and leading the Hoyas to victory. The rest of the team scored 11 in the period. In an exciting half during which neither team could open up more than a three point lead until the final seconds, Brunson was phenomenal, while first-year Kate Carlin also had some major contributions at the end of the game, sinking two free-throws to provide the margin of victory, then coming up with a blocked shot at the other end of the floor.
Though the Hoyas only shot 34.8 percent in the second, they were able to hold the normally sharp-shooting Wildcats to a mere 25 percent from the floor. They also out-rebounded Villanova 45-27, as Brunson again led the way in this category, hauling down 14 boards. Following the game Brunson was named the Big East Player of the Week for the fifth time this season. She leads the league in points and rebounds and is the only player in the conference to average a double-double.
Following the game, a teary-eyed coach Knapp praised his team’s energy and intelligence on defense. “I wish we could do this all the time,” Knapp said, “but I think you have to understand that we’re only playing so many people, and I think sometimes that gets the best of us … but we played together today defensively, which has been the key component in any win we’ve had … I was very glad to see our kids smile.”
But smiles were in short supply Wednesday evening, as the team proved unable to find the bucket. Brunson shot 3-13, Lisicky went 2-7, and Bethany LeSueur and Sarah Jenkins went a combined three for 18. Notre Dame never trailed in the game and after a competitive start (after which they were only up 13-11) surged to a 20-11 lead with 8:34 left in the first half. Georgetown could get no closer than six in the time before intermission and went into the break down 36-23. Notre Dame dominated the backboard in the first half, collecting 20 boards to Georgetown’s 12, and scored 18 points inside to the Hoyas’ eight.
The second half was more of the same. After Georgetown went on a 10-2 run to get back in the game, the Irish clamped down and, with 13:32 left, had gone on a 9-0 run of their own. The Hoyas could get no closer than nine the rest of the way and at several times were down by nearly 20. The Irish outscored the Hoyas 20-10 in the paint and shot 40 percent to their opponents’ 29.6 percent in the half. The continued solid play of Carlin was the lone bright spot for the Hoyas, as the guard contributed 11 points on solid 3-7 shooting. Brunson joined her in double figures with 12 points and seven boards, while Bethany LeSueur added 11 rebounds.
The Hoyas hope to get back on track during their two home games at McDonough Arena next week. They square off against Virginia Sunday afternoon at 3 and against Boston College Wednesday evening at 7.
