Nov. 15, 2014 Box Score | Photo Gallery 
WASHINGTON - The Natasha Adair Era started well for the Georgetown University women's basketball team (1-0) on Friday evening as the Hoyas defeated the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore Lady Hawks (0-1), 88-75, at McDonough Arena. Georgetown had four players in double figures for a solid performance to open the 2014-15 season.
"Tonight we talked about what we had to do and how we had to play Georgetown women's basketball and I thought we showed that," said Adair. "If this is the first game, if this is the preview, obviously it wasn't a perfect game and we have to work on some things, but I can't wait to see this team in December."
Junior forward Dominique Vitalis (Bloomfield, N.J./Gill St. Bernard's) led all scorers with her second-career double-double notching 19 points and 10 boards. Junior forward Brittany Horne (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) managed 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals, while BIG EAST Preseason Rookie of the Year Dorothy Adomako (Midlothian, Va./Cosby) also had a double-double with 17 points and a team-best 14 rebounds. Junior guard Katie McCormick (Leonardtown, Md./Shattuck St. Mary's) rounded out those in double figures with 15 points coming on five 3-pointers to tie her career high.
The Hoyas shot 40.8 percent (31-for-76) from the field and outrebounded the Lady Hawks, 53-43, while also forcing 28 turnovers on 13 steals. The bench was huge, contributing 29 points in the game.
Jessica Long led UMES with 15 points, she was one of five Lady Hawks in double figures.
Early on, it was a close game as UMES seemed to match Georgetown's shots from long range. The Hoyas had Adomako hot in her first-career start as she scored six of GU's first eight points.
With the Hoyas leading by one, 19-18, midway through the first, Vitalis tipped in an offensive rebound to spark an 8-0 run to build the lead to nine, 27-18.
Georgetown held onto the slight advantage, before exploding on offense with a 15-4 run to end the half. Horne contributed six points and Vitalis had four as the Hoyas built the lead to 16, 44-28 at the break.
Five minutes into the second, UMES scored six-consecutive points to cut it to nine, but that would be the closest the Lady Hawks would come for the remainder of the contest.
GU came roaring back with a 12-0 run sparked by a Horne jumper to make it 63-42 at the 12:38 mark.
From that point on, the Blue & Gray coasted. UMES tried to get back in the game, but never got it back to single digits as the Georgetown defense forced turnovers and turned those into transition points on the other end.
With less than a minute to go, Georgetown had a comfortable lead and held on for the 88-75 victory.
Adair is just the fourth coach in program history to win her debut game. The first came from the inaugural coach of the program, Betty Underwood, who led the Hoyas to a 35-23 victory over Immaculata in 1970.
The Hoyas will have a quick turnaround traveling to Richmond, Va., on Sunday for a 2 p.m., matchup against the Richmond University Spiders. Live stats and a webcast will be available through the Spiders' athletic website.
