Even the new, diminished Big East has been cruel to the Georgetown women’s basketball team (7-12, 1-6 Big East) who lost to Seton Hall (11-5, 2-3 Big East) 73-62 this past Saturday. All five Seton Hall starters tallied double-digit point totals including a game-high 22 points from sophomore forward Tabatha Richardson-Smith.
“We played tough and with good effort, but not for long enough and that made the difference,” Head Coach Jim Lewis said.
The Hoyas started well, taking a three point lead, 14-11, midway through the first half. However, Seton Hall stormed back in the remaining time, and went into halftime with a comfortable 34-25 lead. Seton Hall continued to pull away right out of the break, pushing the lead to 14 points.
The Hoyas attempted to adapt, feeding freshman center Natalie Butler and senior forward Andrea White, who led scoring for the Hoyas with 16 and 17 points, respectively. Butler and White’s offense helped the Hoyas cut their deficit in half in about 3 minutes, but Seton Hall was en route to the victory.
Seton Hall was able to make free throws down the stretch to extend their lead to the final tally, as they shot an impressive 79 percent from the line while Georgetown struggled, shooting only 56 percent.
Coach Lewis also stressed another area where his team struggled. “When we take care of the ball, we have the chance to reach the excellence within our group,” he said. Georgetown was crushed in the battle for turnovers, turning the ball over 29 times compared to 11 times by Seton Hall. Georgetown actually shot a higher percentage from the field than Seton Hall, at 41 percent to 34 percent, but Seton Hall took advantage of Georgetown’s turnovers. The Hoyas were particularly sloppy when dribbling the ball, as Seton Hall had an astounding 14 steals in the game.
Georgetown did, however, soundly out-rebound Seton Hall, pulling down 50 boards compared to just 37 rebounds by Seton Hall. Butler and White both pulled in double digit rebounds which gave them both double-doubles for the game, the fourteenth and ninth of the season, respectively.
After a 92-69 loss to Depaul on Wednesday night, the women’s basketball team’s next contest is this Sunday when the Hoyas will travel to face St. John’s (13-5, 6-1 Big East) at 6:00p.m.
