March 2, 2009
Washington, D.C. - A slow start and a tough stretch in the second half was too much to overcome as the Georgetown University women's basketball team fell to the Seton Hall Pirates (16-13, 4-12 BIG EAST), 64-54, Monday evening in New Jersey. The Hoyas now fall to 17-12 on the season and 7-9 in the BIG EAST as the squad readies itself for the conference tournament starting on Friday in Hartford, Conn.
Seton Hall opened with a 7-0 run in the first minute, but GU came back with a pair of baskets from Shanice Fuller (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River). Unfortunately, that would all of the Hoya offense for the next eight minutes as the squad struggled to hit and Ebonie Williams sank a trio of three's while the Pirates got on a roll to put GU in a 15-point hole midway through.
The Hoyas settled the ball, regrouped and got down to business as Tia McBride (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) hit a pair of jumpers to get back some of the momentum. At 7:11 trailing 24-13, Tia Magee (Jenks,Okla./Jenks) took over scoring GU's next nine points including two three's as the Hoyas got the deficit into single digits. Unfortunately five late points made it 36-23 at the break.
Magee led the Hoyas with 10 points and Fuller had six for the Hoyas who were out-rebounded 25-16 and shot 29 percent in the half. The defense forced seven Pirate turnovers. Williams led Seton Hall with 15 points in the half.
It was senior Karee Houlette (Houston, Texas/Cypress Springs) who came out fired up in the second half. Houlette hit an early jumper just inside the arc and then backed it up the next time down for a trey. On the ensuing possession, the guard got a steal off of the press and passed it to Fuller who took it in for a layup to pull GU within eight.
Georgetown continued to battle and managed to get within three as Houlette hit jumpers, the defense forced turnovers and Jaleesa Butler (St. Louis, Mo./Alton) rebounded down low. The Hoyas got it within three but once again a three-point play and a trey put things back in SHU's favor.
Turnovers proved to be the killer as Georgetown went scoreless for eight minutes and committed five turnovers in the process allowing the Pirates to take a lead. GU couldn't combat the run and was eventually forced to foul as Seton Hall scored nine free throws in the final two minutes to make the final 64-54.
Fuller led the Hoyas with 14 points while Butler and Magee each had 10. Butler had a team-best seven rebounds. Georgetown shot 34.5 percent for the game and was out-rebounded 40-30. The Hoyas also committed 12 turnovers but forced 18 on the defensive end.
The Hoyas will now have to wait to see where they end up in the final BIG EAST Tournament seedings. All 16 teams played their last conference games Monday evening.
