The Georgetown women’s basketball team (7-7, 2-2 Big East) dropped its second game in conference play, falling to Butler (10-5, 2-1 Big East) 66-57 Friday evening in McDonough Arena. Junior forward Cynthia Petke led the Georgetown effort with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, while junior guard Dionna White added 11 points for the Hoyas, whose comeback bid fell short thanks to poor shooting. Junior forward Tori Schickel led Butler with 28, while junior guard Whitney Jennings added 26 for the Bulldogs. Schickel and Butler combined for 54 of Butler’s 66 points.
Early on, there were no indications that Georgetown would experience any difficulties scoring the ball against the Butler defense. The Hoyas jumped out to an early 16-6 lead with 4:39 remaining in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs would respond with a 12-2 run to close out the period, resulting in an 18-all score. Although the Hoyas would enter the halftime break trailing 35-30, they still managed a respectable 41.7 percent from the field, while the Bulldogs shot 51.6 percent.
In the second half, however, the game went from free-flowing to a free-throw shooting competition, as neither team managed much offense outside of points at the charity stripe. The Hoyas shot 15-18 from the free-throw line but managed a paltry 17.2 percent shooting from the field, while the Bulldogs went 12-14 from the stripe and shot 34.8 percent from the field. Georgetown took a 43-41 lead with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter courtesy of a three-point play by sophomore guard Morgan Smith. However, the Bulldogs would close the quarter on a 10-0 run, taking a 51-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Hoyas would never cut the lead below six points. After a White three with 7:22 remaining made the Butler lead 52-46, the Hoyas went into a critical offensive funk, scoring again only with 3:55 left, by which point the Bulldogs had opened up an insurmountable 13-point lead.
The Hoyas return to the hardwood Wednesday evening at McDonough Arena against No. 21 Villanova (12-2, 2-2 Big East). Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. and the match can be streamed on the Big East Digital Network. Follow @GUVoiceSports for updates and breaking news.
