The Georgetown women’s basketball team (14-5, 2-3 Big East) got to South Bend expecting a tough fight against No. 11 Notre Dame (16-4, 5-1 Big East) on Tuesday night, and the Fighting Irish gave them more then they could handle.
Rodgers has led the Hoyas all season, but she wasn’t enough against the Irish. (Photo by Jackson Perry)
The No. 16 Hoyas fell for the second time in three games, this time in convincing fashion: 80-58. The defeat showed that, while Georgetown is becoming a power on the national scene, the squad still has a long road to the top of the Big East.
The Fighting Irish came out of the gate swinging and landed multiple blows to the usually stout Georgetown defense. Notre Dame made four three-pointers before the 12-minute mark of the first half, lifting the Irish to an early 13-point lead.
“Watching the film, we know that we need to do a better job of locating the shooters on defense,” head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “We just didn’t find the open player and we gave up shots.”
Despite the slow start, the Hoyas showed resilience with a 10-0 run midway through the opening half, bringing the score to 24-22—the closest the Hoyas would get for the rest of the game.
The Irish closed the half with a run of their own. Sophomore guard Skylar Diggins scored six of her 17 first half points in the final three minutes to give Notre Dame an 11-2 edge in the closing minutes.
While Georgetown managed to keep the score to single digits throughout much of the first half thanks to some defensive adjustments, the Hoyas left six crucial points on the board by missing the front end of one-and-one free throws on three straight possessions. With the missed opportunities and strong Irish shooting, the Irish took a 45-33 lead into the half.
The Hoyas responded to the adversity of the first half by coming out of the locker room strong. Junior forward Tia Magee scored six of Georgetown’s first eight points after a scoreless first half, bringing the score back to single digits. But the turning point of the game came five minutes into the half when a technical foul to Adria Crawford halted the Hoyas’ momentum.
After the foul, Notre Dame went on an 8-0 run, eventually putting the game out of the Hoyas’ reach.
Ultimately, the game came down to shooting—Georgetown’s defense was unable to contain Notre Dame’s hot hands. Four Irish starters scored in double figures, and Notre Dame shot 54.2 percent from the floor, including a blistering 57.1 percent from behind the three-point arc.
The Hoyas also struggled on offense, shooting a mediocre 43.1 percent from the field, and only converting 41.2 percent of their free throws.
“On offense, it’s more about taking care of the ball and not making mental mistakes,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We also allowed 31 points off of turnovers which really hurt us.”
Despite the lopsided final score, there were bright spots in the game, namely Sugar Rodgers and Rubylee Wright’s play. Rodgers led the Hoyas with 15 points and notched a team high six rebounds, while Wright added 13 points of her own.
The solid performance is nothing new for Rodgers, and has garnered national attention for her play during the first half of the season. Last week, Rodgers was named to the prestigious Wooden Midseason Top 20, a list comprised of the nation’s top performers from all classes and conferences. Rodgers currently leads the team in scoring with 19 points per game and is second in the Big East in the category.
While the sophomore has been a consistent performer, the loss to Notre Dame reinforced the fact that the whole team will need to step up as Georgetown enters the teeth of their Big East schedule.
“In this league you can’t dwell on a loss, you can only learn from it and look to improve in the next game,” Williams-Flournoy said. “The Big East is one of, if not the most, challenging league in the nation. Every night we are playing a top team and many nights we’re going up against ranked teams. There is never a night off, so under those circumstances, we know there will always be challenges.”
The team’s next Big East challenge comes this weekend against Villanova. While the Wildcats are unranked, Williams-Flournoy is quick to point out that they present unique challenges to her team.
“Villanova controls pace, which will be a challenge,” she said. “They shoot and immediately get back in transition sometimes not even looking for an offensive rebound. In that sense, we’ll need to do a good job in our half-court offense and take care of the ball.”
The Hoyas look to even up their Big East record against the Wildcats on Saturday at home, with game time scheduled for 2 p.m.
