On Free Beets Day at McDonough Arena, the Georgetown women’s basketball team (9-9, 2-6 Big East) lost their fourth game in a row to visiting Seton Hall (14-4, 4-3 Big East) by a final of 83-75. Four Hoyas scored in double figures, including freshman guard Dionna White and sophomore forward Dorothy Adomako, who each scored a team-high 17 points. Junior forward Faith Woodard and senior guard Katie McCormick added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
The loss drops the Hoyas to ninth place in the Big East regular season standings. After starting the season with a promising 5-1 record, the team has won just one-third of their games since Dec. 2. If there is a silver-lining for the team, however, it is that they sit just 2.5 games out of the top-half of the conference standings.
“The parity in this league is so close,” said Georgetown Head Coach Natasha Adair following the loss. “Because of that, you have to make it. When you get around the rim, you’ve got to make it. When you get to the free-throw line, you got to finish.”
In the early stages of the game, the Hoyas were able to take the lead on the heels of a balanced scoring attack. Through the first five minutes of action, four Georgetown starters had recorded a field-goal. But as the first quarter wound down, the Seton Hall tag-team of senior guard Tabatha Richardson-Smith and graduate student Shakena Richardson began to take over the game. Each scored eight points in the period to help give the Pirates a 20-19 lead after the first period.
When play resumed in the second quarter, Adomako asserted herself in the game, scoring seven points while grabbing four rebounds in the frame. Georgetown was able to trim the Seton Hall lead down to as little as one point with just 38 seconds remaining in the period, but Seton Hall responded with a jump shot before the end of the half to take a 35-32 lead into the locker room.
The game broke open in the third quarter, as both teams were red hot following the intermission. For the Blue and Gray, it was the three-pronged attack of White, McCormick, and senior forward Dominique Vitalis who combined to score 17 of the team’s 23 points in the quarter. A McCormick three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining brought the Hoyas to within four, but again Seton Hall was able to answer with a three of their own at the buzzer.
Entering the final quarter of play, Georgetown faced a 62-55 deficit. Seton Hall led by as many as 11 at the 8:45 mark in the fourth, but the Hoyas were able to stay within striking distance, as White, Woodard, Adomako, and McCormick scored all of the Blue and Gray’s 20 points in the quarter. But the comeback effort was destroyed by Seton Hall, who seemingly had an answer each time the Hoyas were able to put together a run. A Faith Woodard layup with 48 seconds remaining brought Georgetown within three points, but Seton Hall responded with an And-1 from Shakena Richardson, effectively putting the game out of reach.
“I think it came down to key possessions,” said Coach Adair. “We cut it to three, [then] we give up an offensive rebound. It wasn’t a matter of our team fighting or competing. We got 16 offensive rebounds and only get four points off of that. We have to finish.”
Despite the loss, Adair remained optimistic about the prospects of her team.
“We’re going to see these teams again, this is only our first time around,” she noted. “What this tells us is how close we are. We don’t really celebrate moral victories, but I don’t want to negate growth or effort. I’m proud of our fight, and as coaches we will show our players what the will to win means. The players are fired up and ready to get out there again.”
Georgetown will be back in action on Sunday, Jan. 24, when they travel to Philadelphia for a date with Villanova. The game is set to tip-off at 1:00 p.m. and can be seen on Fox Sports 2.
