This past Saturday, the Georgetown women’s basketball team (13-9, 4-5 Big East) failed to continue its two-game winning streak, as they fell to No. 12 Louisville (19-4, 7-2 Big East) 74-60. Despite only being down four points at the break, the Cardinals proved too much to handle for the Hoyas in the second-half as they cruised to a win.
Head Coach Keith Brown did not seem upset by his team’s second half performance, as the team suffered from minor injuries and fatigue.
“We had a few players go down and it disrupted what we wanted to do and changed the game,” Brown said after the loss. “With a shorter bench, we couldn’t press the way we wanted to which allowed them to set up an offense.”
Georgetown senior guard Sugar Rodgers, the nation’s second leading scorer averaging 23.7 points per game and Georgetown’s all-time leading scorer, struggled in the game, scoring only 6 points. It was Rodgers’s lowest point total of the season and her first game scoring below double figures since she scored only 6 against Houston on Nov. 19, 2011.
“I wasn’t knocking the shots down,” Rodgers said. “I got some of the shots I wanted. It just wasn’t going in.”
Brown didn’t seem especially concerned about Rodgers’s performance.
“Sugar is going to have off nights—she’s human,” Brown said. “When she isn’t hitting shots, we need her to keep shooting, but to also play defense, rebound, and get steals.”
As the Hoyas’ leading scorer and go-to player for most of their offensive strategies, many of Georgetown’s opponents have focused their defensive efforts on containing Rodgers, which means she’s facing many double- and triple-teams.
“I just can’t get frustrated,” Rodgers said. “I’m going to get my shots regardless. Frustration is the biggest part. You can’t get frustrated if you see a double-team or triple-team, so you got to just get teammates involved.”
One player who did step up for the Hoyas was freshman guard Katie McCormick who had a career-high 21 points coming off the bench, 18 of which came in the second half. Brown did not seem surprised by McCormick’s performance.
“Katie finally did what we knew she was capable of all along,” said Brown. “She is an excellent shooter and we want her to look for her shot.”
Georgetown will look to rebound this Saturday when they travel to New York to take on St. John’s (10-10, 4-4 Big East), a team mired in the middle of the Big East standings just like the Hoyas. Rodgers and the Hoyas understand the task that lies ahead for them.
“We’ve got to play hard,” said Rodgers when asked about the upcoming game. “We got to contain their guards. We got to play defense. If we defend, rebound, and share the ball, then we will come out with a win. If we don’t do one of those things we will not win.”
Brown acknowledged that these upcoming games will have a crucial role in determining the team’s postseason, as March looms around the corner.
“We got to take it one game at a time,” Brown said. “We know winning the next one will keep our goals within reach so we can’t get ahead of ourselves.”
