After last weekend’s victories away at Butler (13-11, 5-7 Big East) and Xavier (9-14, 2-10 Big East), the Georgetown women’s basketball team (10-11, 5-6, Big East) will conclude its road trip on Saturday with a matchup against Villanova (17-5, 7-4 Big East). The two teams previously met at McDonough Arena on January 10, with Georgetown losing in heartbreaking fashion by a score of 60-58, so the Hoyas will be looking for redemption at The Pavilion.
In the matchup three weeks ago, Georgetown came back from down nine points in the fourth quarter to bring it within two points with seven seconds remaining. Villanova missed two straight free throws, so the Hoyas had a chance to tie or win the game, but junior guard Dionna White missed a three-point heave at the buzzer and the Wildcats escaped D.C. with a victory. Throughout the game, Georgetown struggled to contain Villanova’s duo of junior guard Adrianna Hahn and sophomore guard Kelly Jekot who combined for 31 points on 11-21 shooting.
Since the matchup at McDonough, the Wildcats have continued to execute their game plan of spreading the ball around, looking for open three-pointers, and showing discipline on the defensive end to mixed results. They have won four of their last seven games and have had a 20-point scorer (Jekot) just once in those matchups. Villanova converts on nine three-pointers per game which is 19th in the country and first in the Big East. They also made nine in the game against Georgetown, so expect the Wildcats to continue to look for the deep ball. On the defensive side of the ball, head coach Harry Perretta’s unit has held true to its lofty reputation, leading the Big East in scoring defense, allowing just 58.8 points per game.
Georgetown will be going into this game looking for its first three-game winning streak of the season. It has been an up-and-down year for the Hoyas with consistency and prolonged momentum hard to come by. A third win in a row, especially coming against a rival near the top of the Big East standings, could do a lot to change that. The Hoyas face a difficult closing stretch of their schedule with just one of seven remaining matchups coming against teams below them in the conference standings.
Georgetown head coach James Howard will undoubtedly be relying on senior forward Cynthia Petke to carry a significant load on offense in this crucial matchup against the Wildcats. She is averaging just 13.4 points per game on the season, but has picked it up recently, scoring in double figures in all six games since putting up just four points against Villanova last month. She will have help from teammates White and senior guard Mikayla Venson who have each reached double-digit scoring in their last two games.
The Hoyas tip off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and the game will be broadcast live on the Big East Digital Network. Follow @GUVoiceSports for more updates and breaking news.
