Dec. 22, 2009

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WASHINGTON - It wasn't the prettiest game of the season, but the Georgetown University women's basketball squad used a strong second-half effort to get past the North Carolina State Lady Wolfpack (7-5) Tuesday evening at McDonough Arena. The Hoyas trailed for much of the game but a huge offensive rebound and put-back from junior Monica McNutt (Suitland, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) gave Georgetown the 67-66 victory. The win improved the Hoyas to 10-2 on the season. Georgetown is currently on a nine-game win streak tying the longest since the 1992-93 season.

"We came down and had some big stops and we had some people step up," said Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. "Moni (McNutt) had an unbelievable offensive rebound to put us up by one."

Georgetown scored the first four points but quickly went cold allowing a 12-0 Lady Wolfpack run and looking at an eight-point deficit just seven minutes in. Latia Magee (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) hit three-straight free throws to cut the lead to two, but an 8-1 run once again kept NC State on top. At the four-minute mark, the Lady Wolfpack was up by as much as 11, but Georgetown cut it to seven going into the locker room making it 39-32 at the break.

The Hoyas shot 41.7 percent, but allowed NC State to hit 50 percent from the floor and seven three's tying a season high for the Lady Wolfpack. GU was outrebounded 23-10, but forced 13 turnovers. Jaleesa Butler (St. Louis, Mo./Alton) led the Hoyas with 10 points while Magee added a team-best five rebounds.

A 10-0 Georgetown run opened the second half including a pair of layups by Butler as the Hoyas took the lead for the first time since the opening of the first half. Unfortunately, NC State came right back with an 8-0 run to go ahead by as much as seven.

At 8:34, a pair of free throws from Adria Crawford (Alexandria, Va./Thomas Edison) put the Hoyas on top 53-51 but that was once again answered with a three.

NC State looked to be in control with 1:54 remaining holding on to a five-point lead, however, the Georgetown defense continued to swarm and came up with a number of big stops as the seconds ticked away. A series of three offensive rebounds resulted in a pair of free throws for McNutt who sank them both, cutting it to three. On the other end, the junior guard then got a steal and looked ahead to Ta'Shauna "Sugar" Rodgers (Suffolk, Va./King's Fork) on the break who hit the layup but couldn't convert the three-point play making it 66-65 with 45 seconds remaining.

Crawford came up with a huge block on the defensive end and after a missed free throw by the Hoyas, McNutt managed to grab the offensive rebound in the middle of the lane and put it right back in for the go-ahead basket with 14 seconds on the clock. The Lady Wolfpack had two more shots but couldn't hit giving Georgetown the 67-66 victory.

Rodgers led the Hoyas with 19 points while Butler had 18. Magee managed 11 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Additionally, McNutt had eight points with four coming in the final two minutes. Georgetown shot 37.5 percent from the field but was uncharacteristically cold from beyond the arc going 0-for-13. GU allowed 48 percent shooting from the Lady Wolfpack and was outrebounded 41-24. However, the Hoyas forced 30 NC State turnovers committing just 11 on the other end and tallied 17 steals. In the second half, the Blue & Gray forced 17 turnovers while committing just four allowing for the comeback.

"I felt in the second half we took care of the ball much better and we definitely stepped up our pressure," said Williams-Flournoy. "They had 13 turnovers in the first half and ended the game with 30 and that's how we want to play."

Georgetown will have a few days off for the holidays before returning to the court on December 30 for a 7 p.m. game at Clemson University.

"They deserve a break, they've been through a lot with finals and practice so it will be nice to give the team a break for a few days and then get back in the gym and ready for Clemson," said Williams-Flournoy.