On Sunday, the Georgetown Hoyas women’s basketball team suffered a tightly fought 52-49 defeat at the hands of crosstown rival George Washington. Sophomore guard Nikola Kovacikova, the Hoyas’ leading scorer on the season thus far, had a frustrating performance, shooting 0-for-10 from the field. Graduate student guard Brianna Jones stepped up to lead the Hoyas with 12 points. For the Colonials, redshirt freshman guard Tori Hyduke scored 14 points, shooting 3-for-5 from deep, and grabbed seven boards.
To start off a game of runs, the Colonials dominated the first stage of the game. Freshman forward Faith Blethlen got inside for a layup on the game’s first possession, then drilled a three to start off red-hot. On the Colonials’ next trip down, Blethlen assisted on a 3-pointer by Hyduke, opening up an 8-0 lead. Senior forward Anita Kelava kept the Blue & Gray within reach, however, rattling off three quick buckets in addition to two offensive boards. In the final five minutes of the first quarter, both offenses went cold, but graduate student guard Brianna Jones and junior forward Tatiana Thompson each had successful trips to the free-throw line to keep the Hoyas reasonably close. The Colonials, however, still held a 16-10 advantage entering the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Hoyas began to hit their stride. Sophomore guard Tayanna Jones hit two mid-range jumpers in quick succession, followed by a jumper from sophomore forward/center Shanniah Wright to knot the score at 16. Graduate student guard Taylor Barnes put an exclamation mark on the run, sinking a layup despite taking a foul from Colonial sophomore center Kayla Mokwuah and hitting the free throw for the 3-point play. Wright then continued her scoring run, racking up six points on three jumpers, but five points from Hyduke kept the Hoyas’ lead at just 25-23. Much like in the first quarter, scoring was sparse in the final minutes of the second quarter, and the game went into the break with a 27-25 Georgetown advantage.
After the half, the two sides traded buckets to begin the third quarter. Brianna Jones and Mokwuah each made two jumpers as the squads converged to a 33-33 tie with just under five minutes left in the quarter. From there, however, the Colonials took over. Blethlen and graduate student guard Ariel Stephenson each hit a three amidst an 8-0 GW run to close the period, cementing a 41-33 lead.
Just like they responded to an eight-point deficit early in the game, the Hoyas refused to quit. Wright and Brianna Jones combined to score seven points early in the final quarter, bringing the deficit to three, then Thompson made back-to-back layups, the latter of which was followed by a free throw to complete a 3-point play and tie the game at 45 with just under four minutes left. In crunch time, however, the Colonials came out on top thanks to clutch shots from Stephenson and redshirt freshman forward Mayowa Taiwo in the final minute.Next weekend, the Blue & Gray travel to Los Angeles for the LMU Thanksgiving Classic. They face Loyola Marymount (2-3, West Coast) on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET and Fresno State (3-2, Mountain West) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. For continued coverage of women’s basketball, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
