Women’s basketball coach Terri Williams-Flourney and the Hoyas (8-8, 1-4 BE) earned their first conference win of the season last Wednesday, defeating visiting Providence (6-10, 1-4 BE). The 79-67 win came after the Hoyas dropped their first two Big East games over the break.
“It feels good,” senior guard Bethany LeSueur said of getting a Big East win. “That’s a big win for us, especially playing at home.”
The win put an end to the five-game winning streak the Friars brought into McDonough Arena. “[Providence] is much better than they were last year,” Williams-Flourney said of the Friars.
However, Providence struggled on Wednesday and ran into an extremely efficient Hoya performance. The Friars shot a measly 34 percent in the first half and although Georgetown barely out-shot Providence, hitting on 39 percent of their tries, they led 32-27 heading into halftime. The Friars improved to 43 percent in the second half but were left taking notes as the Hoyas put on a shooting clinic, making 60 percent of their shots.
Georgetown gradually built the lead coming out of halftime. A three-pointer by sophomore guard Kristin Heidloff, coming at the 12:18 mark, gave the Hoyas their largest lead at 53-39. Heidloff finished with 11 points and six assists.
After a timeout, Providence surged back. Leading the charge was senior forward Gayle Nwafili, who ended with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The Friars forced a turnover and scored six unanswered points to cut the deficit to eight at 53-45.
“They scored because they moved a little bit more,” coach Williams-Flourney said of Providence’s brief comeback. “We got too comfortable in our 2-3 match up.”
Georgetown was forced to play a lot of time without freshman center Katrina Wheeler, who sat with foul trouble. The remaining seven Hoyas stepped up, even playing out of position, in the absence of Wheeler. Junior guard Kate Carlin, standing at 6 feet even, had to play the center position.
“We know things like that are going to happen considering how low we are on numbers, but we are already mixing and matching positions,” commented sophomore forward Kieran Marlow. “Everybody stepped up and was ready to fill in for each other.”
Carlin didn’t shoot like a center as she made three out of five triples in the second half. Marlow herself handled the Friars in the paint with 25 points and eight rebounds. LeSueur added a career-high 24 points to go along with her eight boards.
Free-throws, which were a point of concern for the Hoyas last season, played an instrumental part in the team’s victory. Georgetown shot 84 percent from the charity stripe for the game.
Back-and-forth scoring between the two teams characterized the final minutes of the game. The Friars’ junior guard Shauna Snyder carried her team, showcasing a jump shot. Her 19 points were not enough, though, as the Hoyas maintained their distance and got the win.
For their next two games, the Hoyas traveled to conference foes West Virginia (10-5, 3-2 BE) and Louisville (13-3, 4-1 BE). Georgetown faltered 65-54 at West Virginia. Carlin scored 15, and Wheeler ended with a double-double tallying 11 points and 12 rebounds. Louisville also topped the Hoyas 89-68. Wheeler led Georgetown with 19 points and 11 rebounds while LeSueur added 17 points.
Georgetown now waits to face visiting Big East opponent Notre Dame (11-5, 2-3 BE) on Saturday, Jan 21.
