Feb. 6, 2008
Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University women's basketball rallied from eight points down with eight minutes to go and slipped past visiting St. John's, 61-60 in BIG EAST Conference action on Wednesday night. The Hoyas, winners of two straight, improve to 13-9, 3-6 in the league while the Red Storm falls to 12-10, 3-6. Georgetown sophomore guard Meredith Cox (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) netted 13 points while senior classmates Aminata Diop (Saint Louis, Senegal) and Kieraah Marlow (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) tallied 11 points apiece. Junior Karee Houlette (Houston, Texas/Cypress Springs) scored eight points in just 10 second half minutes to lift the Hoyas to the victory. "We lacked energy to start the game tonight and combined with some poor shooting, we found ourselves down," said Georgetown head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. "We picked up our defensive effort and got enough stops when we had to until our shots startd to fall. It was another overall team effort tonight. Aminata (Diop) got some key baskets for us and Karee (Houlette) hit a couple huge threes to give us a lift." Georgetown started the second half 0-8 from the floor as St. John's upped its lead to 41-28 with 14:12 to go in the game. Houlette's first three-pointer of the game drew GU to within 41-33 with 12:36 left. On the next Hoya possession, Cox drained a three from the wing to close Georgetown's deficit to 41-36 with 12 minutes left. The Hoyas continued to battle. Diop's rebound and layup off a missed GU free throw gave the home team its first lead of the second half, 53-52 with 2:31 left.
St. John's junior Monique McLean drained a huge three-pointer from the wing that gave St. John's a 57-55 lead with 57 seconds remaning. Houlette then put the Hoyas back in front, 58-57 with a three-pointer from the top of the key with 37 seconds to go. Following a Red Storm turnover, Marlow hit two fouls shots to up the Georgetown advantage to 60-57 with 13 ticks left. Georgetown's Jaleesa Butler (St. Louis, Mo./Alton [Ill.]) caused a SJU turnover on the next possession and Butler was fouled. The sophomore forward hit the second of two free throws for a 61-57 Hoya advantage with five seconds to go. McLean finished with a game-high 23 points for St. John's while sophomore Kelly McManmon notched 13 points off the bench. The Hoyas endured through 30 percent shooting in the first half (9-30) and trailed 30-24 at the break. Georgetown kept themselves in the game by grabbing 10 offensive rebounds. Midway through the first half, Georgetown had connected on just 3-21 field goals. St. John's led by 12 points, 27-15 with 4:17 to go in the first half before GU went on a mini 9-3 run to close the period. McLean had 12 first half points for the Red Storm while Diop was 4-5 from the floor for nine points for Georgetown. Georgetown has now won back-to-back conference games for the first time since early February, 2006 Both teams wore pink colored shoelaces and pink t-shirts during warmups to join the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) "Think Pink" initiative to raise awareness for breast cancer. |
