Jan. 30, 2008
Milwaukee, Wisc. - The Georgetown University women's basketball team battled back from a nine-point second half deficit and tied the game at 50-50 with 2:47 to go in regulation but the Marquette Golden Eagles converted seven free throws in the final two minutes to edge the Hoyas, 60-55 in a highly-competitive BIG EAST Conference game at the Al McGuire Center on Wednesday night. Georgetown dropped to 11-9 overall, 1-6 in league play. Freshman Monica McNutt (Suitland, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) netted a career-high 21 points in her first-ever start and knocked down a career-best six three-pointers. Sophomore Shanice Fuller (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) tallied a season-best 12 points. Senior Kristin Heidloff (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) handed out a season-best six assists to go along with four points off the bench in a season-high 34 minutes. "I'm really pleased with the team effort tonight but disappointed with the result," said head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. "We had a bunch of different combinations on the floor personnel-wise and everybody contributed. "We knew Monica was capable of that type of performance," Williams-Flournoy added. "She stepped up her game in her first career start. Our guard play was terrific with Shanice (Fuller) and Kristin (Heidloff),we just hit the boards like we would have liked." Marquette (12-8, 4-3 BE) started the game with a 13-0 run making six of its first nine shots while the Hoyas committed nine turnovers in the first five minutes. GU didn't get its first field goal until the 13:11 mark on an Aminata Diop (Saint-Louis, Senegal) layup and then the Hoyas climbed to within 17-8 on a McNutt baseline jumper at 12:03. Marquette had grabbed five offensive rebounds over the first nine minutes and got 12 of its first 17 points in the paint.
Both teams were in the one-and-one bonus with 7:48 left in the first half. Kieraah Marlow's (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) first bucket of the game, a layup, brought GU to within 23-15 as the clock showed 6:50 in the opening half. After Marquette's Angel Robinson connected on a baseline jumper at 4:01, Hoya sophomore Meredith Cox (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) hit a three for the Blue and Gray as the Hoyas closed their deficit to 25-18. McNutt's second trey of the half pulled Georgetown to 25-21 at 3:01 with Heidloff tallying an assist from the top of the key. Despite the Golden Eagles hot start from the floor, Marquette finished the half shooting 28 percent from the floor (11-38). MU corralled 18 first half offensive boards and turned the rebounds into 14 second chance points. It was the fourth time that Georgetown trailed at the half in league play. The Hoyas trailed by nine, 37-38 with 15:05 to go but slowly closed the game. Georgetown stepped up its defensive pressure throughout the second half and forced nine second half MU turnovers. Fuller drove to the basket for a layup at 11:52 to bring the Hoyas within four points, 39-35. Two possessions later McNutt hit her fourth three-pointer of the game and the Hoyas trailed by just three, 41-38. A Fuller dribble drive and layin with the shot clock expiring made it a one-point game, 43-42 at 8:25 as Marquette was going almost four minutes without a field goal. McNutt's three at the 7:14 mark gave GU its first lead, 45-43. Ashley Robinson answered, scoring on a layup two possessions later for the Golden Eagles before Heidloff had an easy layup in transition for a 48-45 Georgetown edge. The game then went back and forth for the next two-plus minutes. Marquette's Svetlana Kovalenko grabbed a rebound and scored on a put-back giving the Eagles a 49-48 lead with 4:17 left. Two trips down the floor later, Heidloff then worked off a Marlow screen and hit a 17-footer from the corner to tie the game at 50-50 with 2:47 remaining. With 2:11 to go, Kovalenko hit just her third three-pointer of the season, the eventual game-winning bucket, lifting Marquette's led to 53-50. MU scored six of their final eight points from the free throw line. In addition to McNutt's first career-start, it was the first time the starting five consisted of McNutt, Cox, Fuller, Jaleesa Butler and Diop. Georgetown is back at it on Saturday, February 2 when the Hoyas host No. 24 Syracuse inside McDonough Arena. Tip-of is set for 3 p.m. |
