On Tuesday night, the Georgetown Hoyas women’s basketball team suffered a 66-52 loss in their season opener at Davidson. In the first game of Georgetown Head Coach James Howard’s third season at the helm, the Blue & Gray fell largely due to Wildcat freshman guard Suzi-Rose Deegan’s 16 points and eight rebounds. For Georgetown, sophomore guard Nikola Kovacikova notched 12 points and seven rebounds, though she didn’t score her first field goal until the second half. Senior forward Anita Kelava also contributed 10 points and nine rebounds. Ultimately, a slow start doomed the Hoyas, who played much better in the second half.
10 seconds in, junior guard Katie Turner hit a 3-pointer for the Wildcats (1-0, Atlantic-10) on the game’s first possession to open the scoring. After a cold stretch for both teams, Davidson’s freshman forward Adelaide Fuller sunk a layup to put her team up 5-0, but the Hoyas (0-1, Big East) got on the board on the following possession with a mid-range jumper by graduate student guard Taylor Barnes. The quarter continued with the Wildcats receiving scores from several different players, while the Hoyas struggled to find their rhythm. Freshman forward Graceann Bennett scored her first collegiate points with a layup, but at the end of the first quarter the score was 22-10, Davidson.
The Hoyas fared no better in the second quarter. As the offense continued to struggle, the defense held Davidson to minimal scoring for most of the period, but the Wildcats broke through by the end of the second. Junior forward Tatiana Thompson scored her first two buckets of the year with a jumper and a layup, while sophomore forward Shanniah Wright hit two free throws just before the half, but that was all the Hoyas could muster. For the Wildcats, junior guard Sarah Donovan recorded a layup and a 3-pointer in the quarter to help stretch the lead to 34-16 at the half. At intermission, Barnes, Wright, and Bennett each had four points, while Donovan was the game leader with nine.
In the second half, Georgetown were able to play Davidson much more evenly, but were never able to get back into the game. The third quarter saw contributions from several Hoyas who had quiet first halves, as Kelava and Kovacikova combined for eight points. Refusing to allow a Hoya comeback, Deegan poured in 10 points for the Wildcats over the quarter. Despite a much better quarter in which the Blue & Gray outscored Davidson 18-17, the Wildcats held a vice grip on the game, leading 51-34.
The fourth quarter was possibly the Hoyas’ best half, greatly in part to a burst of scoring by Kovacikova. After two quick buckets to start it off, she ended the quarter with 10 points,including two 3-pointers. Additionally, the Georgetown defense forced six Wildcat turnovers in the period, a large reason why the Hoyas outscored Davidson 18-15. Davidson stayed afloat, however, with consistent scoring from all around, and when the dust settled, the Wildcats still came out on top with the 14-point victory.
Georgetown’s next game is next Tuesday, when they will make their McDonough Arena debut against the Richmond Spiders. The Hoyas will need a fast start in order to avoid what happened in their season opener. (diazepam) Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET, and a stream and live stats will be available on guhoyas.com. For continued coverage of women’s basketball, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
