Feb. 2, 2008
Box Score | Photo Gallery
Washington, D.C. - Hoya senior Kieraah Marlow (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) scored a game-high 19 points off the bench and sophomore guard Shanice Fuller tallied a season-high 16 points to go along with seven assists and three steals as the Georgetown University women's basketball team topped No. 22 Syracuse, 78-71 on Saturday. The victory marked the Hoyas' first win against a ranked opponent in more than four years and the first under fourth-year head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy.
Georgetown upped its record to 12-9, 2-6 in league play and improved to 3-0 when four players score in double figures. Freshman Monica McNutt (Suitland, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) and senior center Aminata Diop (Saint Louis, Senegal) scored 13 and 11 points, respectively. All 11 of Diop's points came in the second half. Sophomore guard Meredith Cox (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) recorded nine points on three three-pointers and a career-high seven rebounds.
GU commited just 11 turnovers, a season-low vs. conference opponents and the Hoyas connected on 58 percent of their second half field goals (14-24). It was the 13th time this season that Georgetown hit at least 50 percent of its shots in a half.
Syracuse, who had a three-game winning streak snapped, was playing its third game since earning its first Top 25 ranking in the program's history.
Sophomore Nicole Michael led Syracuse with 16 points. Fantasia Goodwin, Vaida Sipaviciute and Vionca Murray all had 11 points each.
"Our kids just refused to lose tonight," said Williams-Flournoy. "It's funny, because the other day in practice, I just got on them and said, 'when are we going to stop making the same mistakes'. It's the same mistakes that are keeping us from winning. I think they really thought about it and came out today determined. They said we aren't going too make the same mistakes."
Georgetown led most of the game and never trailed in the final 10 minutes.
Syracuse (17-4, 5-3 BE) played much of the second half without Chandrea Jones, the team's leading scorer. Jones was whistled for an offensive foul, her fourth, with 16:38 left in the game. She finished with nine points, seven in the final three minutes.
Georgetown took its largest lead of the first half, 22-13 with 6:50 to go in the first half on a jumper by Marlow. But Syracuse finished the half on 16-7 run to tie the game at 29-29 at halftime.
Georgeton led for the majority of the second half with the last Orange lead, 50-49 coming at 10:41 on a Erica Morrow three-pointer.
Diop hit a layup on the next Hoya possession for a 51-50 GU lead. Three minutes later, Morrow hit another jumper to knot the game at 57-57 with 6:30 remaining.
Diop converted an old-fashioned three-point play at 6:20 for a 60-57 GU lead, a lead the home team would not relinquish. Georgetown made 8-10 free throws down the stretch and followed every Syracuse basket in the final 6:06 with points of their own.
Georgetown's last win against an opponent in The Associated Press' Top 25 came on Jan. 17, 2004, over No. 23 Virginia Tech, 70-50.
The Hoyas play host to St. John's (12-9, 3-5 BE) on Wednesday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. inside McDonough Arena.
