Jan. 24, 2009
Box Score
Tampa, Fla. - The Georgetown University women's basketball team used a balanced attack with nine different players scoring to get the 86-68 victory Saturday evening over the University of South Florida Bulls (15-6, 2-5 BIG EAST). The point total was GU's largest of the season as the squad shot 58.9 percent from the field. With the BIG EAST win, Georgetown improves to 13-6 overall and 3-3 in conference.
Georgetown started the game looking towards the paint despite a lack of size in the lineup and managed to take the early lead. However, the Bulls came out hot from beyond the arc hitting back-to-back treys to match GU. The Hoyas ran the floor off of the break getting layups from freshmen Adria Crawford (Alexandria, Va./Thomas Edison) and Rubylee Wright (Latta, S.C./Latta) as GU held the small advantage.
Three became the name of the game midway through the half as Tia McBride (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) sank a trey and Meredith Cox (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) hit a pair from beyond the arc as well. On defense, the Hoyas continued to deny the post and force outside shots. Cox's second three sparked a 15-2 run that included six points from forward Jaleesa Butler (St. Louis, Mo./Alton) in her first start of the season.
Georgetown had a 14-point lead with less than three minutes remaining in the half, but allowed USF seven unanswered points in the closing seconds to make the score 38-31 at the break.
Butler led all scorers with 12 points and Cox added six, Karee Houlette (Houston, Texas/Cypress Springs) led the Hoyas in rebounds with three. Georgetown shot 51.7 percent from the field and hit 57.1 percent from beyond the arc while holding the Bulls to 29.7 percent shooting. Both squads committed 13 turnovers and USF out-rebounded GU 25-19.
Georgetown continued to run in the second getting a number of easy layups off of steals and breaking the USF press. The Hoyas opened the half with an 11-3 run thanks in part to Monica McNutt (Suitland, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) notching two steals, making a layup and a pull-up jumper.
The Hoyas began to pull away midway through the second as the running game proved too much for the Bulls who resorted to a long-range attack to get back into the contest. USF's game plan worked hitting a pair of three's and sinking free throws to pull within nine with 3:48 remaining.
Commenting on the Bulls' abundance of three-point attempts, Georgetown Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said, "When we play our zone, teams tend to take more outside shots even though tonight we were playing without a true center. I thought the team played extremely hard on defense."
In the closing minutes it was free throws and Butler's scrappy play down low that sealed the victory for the Hoyas. At the final buzzer the score was 86-68 for Georgetown's highest point total of the season.
"It's the BIG EAST, any win especially on the road is a good one," said Williams-Flournoy.
Butler led all scorers with 28 points, one shy of her career-high set last game, as well as seven rebounds. Crawford added 14 points and Shanice Fuller (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) had 10. McNutt was impressive on the boards with a career-best 10 rebounds to lead the squad. GU shot 58.9 percent from the field and held the Bulls under 30 percent for the game. Both squads pulled in 42 rebounds, however, the Hoyas committed two more turnovers.
The game marked GU's second victory in the all-time series over South Florida and the first at the Sun Dome.
The Hoyas have a tough week ahead of them hosting No. 25 Pittsburgh on Tuesday at McDonough Arena and No. 1/1 Connecticut on Saturday. Tip off for the Pitt game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Live stats and a webcast featuring Drew Wiseman will be available on www.GUHoyas.com for both contests.
