Georgetown women’s basketball (11-11, 4-7 BIG EAST) won in impressive fashion versus the Xavier Musketeers (6-17, 1-11 BIG EAST) 63-36 on Feb. 5. Allowing their fewest points against a Division I opponent all-season, the Hoyas dominated the woeful Musketeers on the road from start to finish.
In a game that was never really close, the Hoyas came out of the gates firing, with a triple by freshman guard Khadee Hession to open the scoring. Coming off a strong 17 points in her last game out, a loss to Creighton a week ago, Hession stayed efficient from the field in this game as well, despite playing limited minutes due to foul trouble. Speaking of role players having good nights, graduate guard Siobhan Ryan had her best game in a Hoya uniform, also getting on the board early as Georgetown amassed a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter. All this happened despite just 2 points combined from the Hoyas star trio of senior guard Kelsey Ransom, junior guard Victoria Rivera, and senior center Ariel Jenkins. The Hoyas’ stifling defense was a theme throughout in this one, as through a quarter, the Musketeers had more turnovers (6) than points (4). At the end of the first, the score was 15-4 Hoyas.
In the second, things only got worse for the home team, as, while only marginally, Georgetown would continue to extend their lead. This quarter was also where Ransom started to get things going from the field with 7 points and 4 rebounds in the period. As the half wore on the Hoyas defense continued to smother and confound the Xavier offense, sending them into halftime 6-of-27 from the field as a team and 0-of-10 from three. Georgetown entered halftime up 25-12, Ransom leading the way with 9 points.
If there was a silver lining for the vanquished in this matchup, it was the third quarter, which saw the Musketeers break 10 points in a quarter for the only time all game. Scoring 16, Xavier used a 16-8 run to at one point cut the Hoya lead to as small as five at 33-28. That glimmer of hope would not last long, though, as Ransom, Ryan and Hession would lead a 7-0 run over the final three minutes and change to re-extend the Georgetown lead to a dozen. This quarter featured 44-percent of Xavier’s points and both of Xavier’s made threes for the game. In the fourth quarter though, another of the Hoyas star troika, Jenkins, joined in on the fun, spoiling any Musketeer hope.
Starting the fourth quarter, Ransom, Rivera, and Jenkins scored the first 10 Georgetown points out of the break as the lead continued to grow. Jenkins, in particular, had an excellent 10 minutes, scoring 8 of her 11 points and securing 7 of her 13 rebounds in the final stanza. Ryan too continued her steady shooting for the game, as she scored 5 or more points in three of four quarters, leading her to tie Ransom with a game high 16 points. At one point, the lead would grow as large as 29 points, as the Hoyas used a 19-2 run that lasted most of the quarter and left no doubt who was the better team tonight. The only troubling stat for the Hoyas? 22 turnovers as a team, spread predominantly, and pretty evenly across their starting lineup.
At the end of the day, though, a 27-point conference win on the road is a 27-point conference win on the road, as when the final buzzer sounded the Hoyas were victorious by a score of 63-36. After some shaky defensive performances as of late, this was a good sign for head coach Darnell Haney’s squad. The performance of Ryan is also big for the Hoyas. If she can turn a corner and find her three-point shot again, one that has been very reliable throughout her college career, it could create another major scoring threat for the Hoyas, giving their star trio better pacing.
Next, the Hoyas return home to play the DePaul Blue Demons (11-13, 6-5 BIG EAST) on Feb 9. at 2:00 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on Flosports. For continued coverage and updates on Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
