Jan. 16, 2010

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WASHINGTON -The No. 24/18 Georgetown University women's basketball team (15-2, 4-0 BIG EAST) held on to get the 60-56 victory over the University of Louisville Cardinals (10-7, 2-2 BIG EAST) Saturday afternoon at McDonough Arena. The Hoyas were up by as much as 16 in the second half, but allowed the Cardinals back in the game with three minutes remaining. With the win the Blue & Gray set a new program record with 14-consecutive victories and defeated the Cards for the first time in program history.

"It's really exciting, just winning period," said sophomore Tia Magee (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks). "We've done a lot of big things this year, we've beat a lot of teams and played hard games so just to get the win is exciting."

After a slow start for both squads, Georgetown went on an 8-0 run at the 12-minute mark to take a 17-8 lead. The Hoyas went up by as much as 13 points in the first when Shanice Fuller (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) hit a pair of free throws at 5:29 to make the score 25-12, but a scoring drought allowed the Cardinals to post a run of their own. Louisville cut it to four, but points from Ta'Shauna "Sugar" Rodgers (Suffolk, Va./King's Fork) and Magee made it 31-23 at the break.

Magee and Rodgers led the Hoyas with six points each in the first while Jaleesa Butler (St. Louis, Mo./Alton) had four points and a team-high nine rebounds. GU outrebounded the Cards 20-17 and forced 17 turnovers on six steals. The Blue & Gray shot just 30.3 percent from the field while Louisville hit 33.3 percent. Keshia Hines led Louisville with eight points.

The tough shooting day continued as the second half began with neither squad scoring a point in the first two and a half minutes. After a Hines basket, Georgetown found its touch going on a 10-0 run with Monica McNutt (Suitland, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) adding a trey as well as a pair of foul shots.

The 16-point lead was not enough, however, as the Cardinals found their second wind coming right back and cutting it to four off of a three by Becky Burke with five minutes remaining. A pair of free throws and a layup gave Louisville its first lead since the first minutes of the game and the Hoyas were forced to play down.

Butler hit a pair of huge free throws to regain to control and Rodgers added a layup to move ahead by three with 1:44 remaining. Down the stretch, Georgetown answered every Louisville advance and forced a turnover on the final possession to hold on for the 60-56 victory.

"We let them back in on a lack of defense, we weren't playing our defense and we weren't scoring so the momentum was going in their direction," said Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. "Unfortunately our girls have been in this situation too many times this season so there wasn't a panic mode ... they made their run on us and we maintained our composure."

Rodgers led the Hoyas with 13 points, while McNutt added 11 points and eight rebounds going 4-for-4 at the line. Georgetown forced 30 Card turnovers but were outrebounded 37-35. GU shot 30.4 percent from the field but posted 12 steals.

The Hoyas will have just two days off before heading out on the road to face Cincinnati on Tuesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.