The Georgetown women’s basketball team’s season tips off this weekend as the ladies travel to Springfield, Missouri to face off against the Missouri State Bears. Despite beginning the season on the road, the Hoyas are looking to make some noise.
“We are going to be extremely competitive because we want to make a statement,” junior guard Monica McNutt said. “We are serious this year. We are going to come out with hype and will be encouraging each other … Everyone is excited about the season and ready to play ball.”
The Hoyas are by no means expecting an easy game against the Bears, who have an underclassmen lineup similar to Georgetown’s. Despite its youth, Missouri State can pose a threat to the Hoyas.
“They [Missouri] push in transition, are scrappy defenders and they play hard,” head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said.
For this game, and the season, though, the Hoyas are not focusing on what their opponent does, but rather what they themselves do—and making sure they do it well.
“If we defend, rebound, share the ball, and play the way we play, then only we can stop us.” McNutt said.
In the past week of practice, the team has been working on tightening the loose ends—stressing rebounding, converting on transitions, and perfecting its 1-2-2 zone defense.
“This week we have really been harping on that,” McNutt said. “We have to move on a chain. We have to move together.”
For Williams-Flournoy, getting the Hoyas’ defense right is essential to the strategy she has set for the game.
“We want to be a very aggressive defending team,” she said. “We want our defense to make a lot of our offense. We have to rebound more and we have to push in transition.”
Williams-Flournoy indicated that the largest obstacle to this game plan will be playing the level of defense she wants without putting the Bears, a strong free-throw shooting team, on the foul line too often.
Starting off the game for the Hoyas will be senior guard Shanice Fuller at the point, freshman guard Ta’Shauna Rodgers and McNutt at the two and three positions respectively, and senior Jalessa Butler and sophomore Latia Magee at the posts.
The Bears play both zone and man-to-man defense, but whichever they play against Georgetown, the Hoyas are ready to counter it.
“We have been shooting the ball really well lately,” McNutt said. “And our post players inside are able to finish around the basket, crash the boards and get rebounds. We are pretty strong and excited inside just as well as outside. If shots aren’t falling we are going to attack the basket.”
The Hoyas know what they have to do in order to generate success this season, and are ready to do it in the game against Missouri State.
“Keeping with how we have been practicing this week, we are going to execute well,” McNutt said. “We are going to be intense. We are going to be extra excited. We are going to be extremely energetic. And we are going to be fresh because it’s the first game of the season.”
