To nobody’s surprise, the Georgetown Hoyas (16-10, 6-9 BIG EAST) fell to the No.15 Connecticut Huskies (22-5, 14-0 BIG EAST) 85-44 on Friday, Feb. 16. Georgetown was led on the offensive end by sophomore guard Victoria Rivera, who scored 16 points on 6-14 shooting. UConn was led by the duo of senior forward Aaliyah Edwards and redshirt junior guard Paige Bueckers, who scored 26 and 21 respectively.
At the very beginning of the game, Georgetown was able to hold their own. After the Hoyas won the tip, each team traveled on their opening possession. Eventually, Georgetown junior center Ariel Jenkins had the first bucket of the night for either team. Not long after, Rivera hit her first of what would be many three-pointers to give Georgetown a 5-2 lead.
Unfortunately for the Blue and Gray, though, their sloppiness on the offensive end immediately allowed UConn to take a lead. After committing three turnovers in the first three minutes of the game, Georgetown ceded an 8-0 run to the Huskies. Every bucket by the Hoyas seemed like it was matched by a handful of makes for Connecticut, and the score was 16-7 at the under-five timeout. Despite being almost completely outmatched, though, Georgetown continued to fight, a pattern that would continue for the rest of the game.
In the second quarter, things really got away from the Hoyas, who were simply unable to keep pace with Connecticut’s smooth and high-powered offense. Rivera continued to shine, and other Hoyas chipped in when able, but with 7:18 left in the half, Georgetown head coach Darnell Haney was forced to call timeout. At that point, the score was 33-12 in favor of UConn.
After the timeout, the Huskies’ scoring slowed down a touch, but Georgetown was completely unable to capitalize. They continued to fight, but as turnovers piled up and shots bricked out, it became clear that the Hoyas had dug a hole too big to climb out of. When the halftime buzzer sounded, it was 46-20 Connecticut, and the Hoyas retreated into the locker room knowing the odds were stacked against them.
In the third quarter, Georgetown kept scrapping, though a win stayed far out of reach. There were a number of bright spots, though. Rivera spent the entire game proving why she deserves good minutes and her spot in the starting lineup; she was shooting absolutely lights-out from behind the arc, ending the game with an excellent 44.4% 3-point shooting percentage. The whole team, in fact, was shooting about their season three-point average. At one point, the Hoyas went on a 9-0 run, hitting shots that they’d struggled to make earlier in the game.
Additionally, Bueckers shot a dismal 1-10 from the three-point line in the first three quarters of the game, something that can at least partially be attributed to Georgetown’s defensive schemes. Despite those positives, though, the third period ended with Connecticut up 60-35.
Foul trouble was the name of the game in the fourth quarter, at least for the Blue and Gray. With a full nine minutes left in the contest, Rivera, graduate forward Graceann Bennett, senior guard Kelsey Ransom, and junior forward Brianna Scott all had three fouls. In a highly physical game against an elite opponent, this meant that the Hoyas had to play incredibly carefully during the last bit of the game. As a result, UConn’s lead continued to balloon—with seven minutes remaining, the Hoyas were trailing by 31 points.
The sole offensive bright spot for Georgetown in this quarter was the fact that they were able to get vaguely close to their per-game scoring average, putting up 44 total points despite facing a talented and at times smothering Husky defense. At the end of the day, though, Georgetown fell to UConn in a loss that can only be described as dismal, even considering their opponent.
Coming up, the Hoyas will get the chance to bounce back against St. John’s (15-13, 9-7 BIG EAST), who beat Georgetown by one point in their Jan. 28 matchup. The game will be played in McDonough Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7:00pm. For continued coverage of all Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on X, formerly known as Twitter.
