The Georgetown women’s basketball team (5-2, 0-0 Big East) continued its strong performance this season, placing first in the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout this past weekend. In the final game, the Hoyas defeated the University of Alaska-Anchorage (4-1, 0-0 GNAC) 92-78, after defeating Nicholls State (4-3, 0-0 Southland) in the semifinals. Senior forward Andrea White was named Outstanding Player of the tournament, and freshman center Natalie Butler won Player of the Game for the finals.
While the tournament had only one Division I school, Coach Jim Lewis said, “This tournament helped prepare us because we’re still a work in progress, and now we’ve experienced a wide variety of diverse teams and situations in games.” Outside of the tournament, the team has had a strong 5-2 start to the season, even though it faces a challenging schedule and early season injuries. There is a sense that they will do well in Big East play.
A big story in this tournament was Andrea White’s performance after recovering from injury. “I was finally able to see some of the dimensions of her game … and see every facet of the game that I had come to love and respect in any outstanding player,” Lewis. Her strong play for the Hoyas is a good sign as she will join a formidable frontcourt that includes freshman forward Faith Wooder and freshman center Natalie Butler. Butler broke a tournament record for rebounds and was a strong offensive weapon as well. She scored 18 points in the final, which shows her potential to be a freshman star.
The Hoyas supplemented their tournament victory with a win against crosstown rival George Washington (4-3, 0-0 A10) on Tuesday, 78-57. Butler led the way for the Hoyas, who had five players score in double figures, with 17 points and White recorded another double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
“GW’s a good team and you’re not going to go out there a shut them out or run up the score,” said Lewis. “We had a game plan that we executed well and I thought it was a good team effort.”
While the team’s conference games come after the New Year, the start of the season bodes well for this young group over the rest of the year. The team plays its next home game against Penn State (5-1, 0-0 Big Ten) at Saturday at 2p.m.
