The Georgetown women’s basketball team has been on the rise in recent years due to Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy—who joined the Hoyas for the 2004-2005 season—and her attempt to turn the program around. This year alone, the Hoyas managed to improve their overall record to 15-14 (5-11 Big East). The team finished the season ranked 13th in their conference, which placed them only one spot away from making a showing at the Big East Tournament.
Though the Hoyas’ improvements fell slightly short of post-season play, this is no small feat when you look at the level of their competition. The Big East teams this season turned it into the conference to fear. While the Big East is consistently at the top among men’s basketball conferences, the Big 12 has traditionally dominated the women’s scene. Now, that isn’t to say that the Big East was nothing: UConn, for example, holds five NCAA championship titles and has traveled to the Final Four eight times.
But still, there is no question that this season is a stand-out for the Big East. Eight Big East and eight Big 12 teams made it to the NCAA tournament, but the ratio changes drastically when you look at the teams that made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Five Big East teams made it, while only two Big 12 teams reached the third round.
Each of the Big East teams beat a Big 12 team to reach the Sweet Sixteen. UConn, Rutgers and Louisville were the favored teams based on rankings, with the one-seed Huskies defeating eight-seed Texas, two-seed Rutgers topping seven-seed Iowa State and the four-seed Cardinals dominating Kentucky State University, 80-63. The upsets came when Pittsburgh won against Baylor 67-59, and Notre Dame slid by Oklahoma in overtime, 79-75.
While three of the five teams still alive in the tournament have seen this degree of success before, Pittsburgh and Louisville earned the first Sweet Sixteen berths in their respective programs’ histories. This is an exceptional success for the Big East, not just for the conference’s name, but for its players and teams, who are earning a new image and more respect.
So while Georgetown’s team has improved within their conference, the conference has also improved within women’s NCAA basketball, which makes Georgetown’s success an even bigger accomplishment. The fact that the program can elevate itself within a more competitive conference proves that Georgetown women’s basketball is even more on the rise than it appears.
