Jan. 27, 2009
Box Score
Photo Gallery
Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown women's basketball team had a lead going into halftime against the No. 21/24 Pittsburgh Panthers (15-4, 5-2 BIG EAST) Tuesday evening at McDonough Arena. Unfortunately, second half shooting woes doomed the squad which fell 50-39 posting GU's lowest point total of the season. With the loss, Georgetown drops to 13-7 overall and 3-4 in the BIG EAST.
Pittsburgh connected on its first shot of the game but the Hoyas came right back and jumped out to a seven-point lead in the opening minutes. Back-to-back three's from Karee Houlette (Houston, Texas/Cypress Springs) and Shanice Fuller (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) made it 12-5 as the Hoyas once again shot well from the field.
A solid defensive effort aided GU in hanging on to the lead but with three minutes remaining in the half, a three from Xenia Stewart tied it up. Tia McBride (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) and Monica McNutt (Suitland, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) immediately came up with two big baskets to put Georgetown up four. Another three from Houlette with a minute to go kept the lead at four going into the break, 27-23.
Houlette and junior Jaleesa Butler (St. Louis, Mo./Alton) each had six in the half to lead the Hoyas. Butler also had a team-best three rebounds. Georgetown shot 41.7 percent and held Pitt to just 30 percent shooting from the field. The Hoyas were out-rebounded 21-15 and had one more turnover but notched five steals.
The second half was not so kind to the Hoyas as GU struggled from the field hitting just 15.4 percent in the half. Pitt started the stanza with a 14-0 run to take a nine-point lead seven minutes in. Houlette hit a three to cut the lead back down to six and for the next four minutes GU allowed just one Panther basket. Unfortunately, during that span the Hoyas went scoreless unable to capitalize on the defensive effort.
At 7:47, Georgetown trailed 40-30 but cut it back to six after a layup from Krystle Hatton (St. Louis, Mo./Hazelwood East) and a pair of free throws from Houlette. After getting so close, Pitt went on a 6-0 run to put the game just out of reach with four minutes to play. At the final buzzer the Hoyas had fallen, 50-39, marking the squad's lowest point total of the season after posting the highest just a game previous at USF.
Houlette led Georgetown with 11 points and Hatton added nine. McNutt led the squad on the boards with six while Hatton and Fuller each brought down five rebounds. Pitt shot 30.5 percent from the field but Georgetown managed just 28 percent shooting after going 4-26 in the second half. GU was out-rebounded 48-34 and had two more turnovers than the Panthers. Shavonte Zellous led Pittsburgh with 10 points in the game.
Georgetown observed a moment of silence before the opening tip in honor of N.C. State Head Coach Kay Yow who passed away on Sunday. The squad wore pink shoe laces and the coaching staff had upside-down pink ribbons in Yow's honor. Contributions were collected at the door to be donated to the Kay Yow/Women's Basketball Coaches Association Cancer Fund.
The Hoyas will host top-ranked Connecticut on Saturday at 3 p.m., at McDonough Arena. The No. 1/1 Huskies are 20-0 on the season and 6-0 in the BIG EAST. Live stats and a webcast will be available on www.GUHoyas.com.
