Nov. 18, 2009
Box Score
Harrisonburg, Va. - The Georgetown University women's basketball squad (1-1) witnessed a tale of two halves Wednesday evening in Harrisonburg, Va. The Hoyas fell to the James Madison University Dukes (1-0) 79-76 after leading by 14 points at the half. GU looked strong in the first half but struggled to rebound in the second as the Blue & Gray dropped its first game of the season.
"We just stopped rebounding and defending," said Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. "That was the difference in the first and second halves. We can't give up this many points and we can't give them so many second-chance baskets."
The Hoyas scored off of the opening tip as Ta'Shauna `'Sugar'' Rodgers (Suffolk, Va./King's Fork) chased down the loose ball and hit a three. From that play on, Georgetown forced six turnovers in seven possessions and didn't allow a JMU point until four minutes in. Dawn Evans answered with a pair of three's, but the Hoyas kept rolling as Rubylee Wright (Latta, S.C./Latta) caught fire.
Midway through the half, Georgetown held a 16-point lead, however, the Dukes made a comeback on the back of Evans and managed to pull within five at the six-minute mark. Georgetown had one more burst of energy with a 15-2 run thanks to five points from Rodgers and four from both Adria Crawford (Alexandria, Va./Thomas Edison) and Jaleesa Butler (St. Louis, Mo./Alton). The Hoyas went into the locker leading 46-32.
Rodgers led the Blue & Gray in the first with 12 points while Wright had 10 and Crawford notched nine. Rodgers and Butler each had six rebounds, including four on the offensive glass from Butler. Georgetown outrebounded James Madison 24-19 and forced 12 turnovers while shooting 41.7 percent from the field.
A 6-0 JMU run started the second half as the Hoyas struggled to find a rhythm early and a three from Sarah Wiliams cut it to four. But when things looked tough, Shanice Fuller (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) made a layup off of a high-low, Tia Magee (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) converted the three-point play and Rodgers hit a pair of free throws to make it 54-43.
Once again, JMU came back and a three-point play the other way cut the lead to two with less than seven minutes to play. A 6-0 run gave Georgetown a bit of breathing room but it would be a dogfight to the finish.
JMU tied it up with two minutes to play and took the lead at 1:16, but Rodgers answered with a trey. On the other end, Evans hit a long bomb to get the one-point lead with 45 seconds remaining, the Dukes' first of the game. The Hoyas ran a play for one final shot, but Wright's three went off the rim making the final 79-76.
Rodgers led the Hoyas with a career-best 22 points and Wright added a career-high 15. Butler and Rodgers led the Hoyas with eight rebounds each and Magee had a team-high four steals. Georgetown was outrebounded 43-40 and shot 38.1 percent for the game, while JMU managed 41.4 percent from the floor. The Blue & Gray forced 20 turnovers and committed 17.
The Hoyas will continue their road trip as they head to West Lafayette, Ind., this weekend for a three-game tournament. Georgetown will open the BTI Classic on Friday evening with a game against Dayton at 7 p.m. GU will face Seattle University on Saturday at 7 p.m. and then the host-Purdue on Sunday at 4 p.m. The Purdue game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
