Sophomore guard Dionna White’s game-high 18 points weren’t enough to hold off DePaul’s (9-4, 1-0 Big East) second half surge as the Georgetown women’s basketball team (8-3, 0-1 Big East) fell to the Blue Demons, 76-53, in the first game of Big East conference play Wednesday afternoon at McDonough Arena.
White had 16 points at the half with the Hoyas only down 37-34, but she and the rest of the team cooled off after the break. After shooting 56 percent from the field in the first quarter, Georgetown finished the game just 32 percent on the day.
In the third quarter, DePaul broke away from Georgetown and built an 18-point lead by the end of the period in part due to second chance point opportunities. The Blue Demons had 15 second chance points throughout the game compared to the Hoya’s four.
Georgetown Head Coach Natasha Adair said the team’s lack of defensive efforts sparked the change on the offensive side of the court.
“We are a defensive-based team. We score off of our defense,” she said. “We win as a team, and today we just didn’t finish it as a team.”
Adair also said that the Hoya’s rebounding effort could have been stronger. The Blue Demons beat Georgetown on the glass 51-37. “That’s the most concerning stat for me,” Adair said.
Four DePaul players scored in double figures with junior guard Amarah Colemon leading the team with 16. The team recorded ten more assists than the Hoyas, finishing the game with a 21-11 advantage. Senior guard Jessica January also left the game early with an apparent dislocated figure and did not return. January was named preseason Big East Player of the Year.
Despite the loss, Hoya’s senior forward Faith Woodard provided a small spark for the Hoyas in the second half, scoring seven of her 10 points. Woodard also recorded her 1,000 career point in the second quarter on a made free throw.
“It’s an accomplishment any time a player can work extremely hard and be as dedicated as she has been and to accomplish such a goal that she will be in the record books here at Georgetown for that,” Adair said.
Moving forward, the Hoya’s face Marquette Friday for their second Big East game of the season, and Adair said her team needs to have a short-term memory to move forward after the loss.
“This league’s a bear on any given night, so you have to defend home court,” Adair said. “So we have to refocus and be ready for Friday.”
Tip off is set for 2:00 p.m. in McDonough. The game can be streamed on the Big East Digital Network.
