Final Stats

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University women's basketball team staged a valiant comeback, but fell just short, 57-53, at the University of Memphis (3-1) on Sunday afternoon at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. With the loss, the Hoyas fall to 2-1 on the season. Sunday's game marked the beginning of a five-game road swing for the Blue & Gray.

"It was about being road tough and mentally tough, and I just don't think we started well," said Georgetown Head Coach Natasha Adair. "I saw resilience in our team in how we fought at the end. There were positives in this game, where I saw players step up. Jade Martin came in and gave us really big minutes, Yazmine Belk came in and gave us some good rebounding, but to score 25 points in the fourth and have that rally. That needs to be the type of team that we show for 40 minutes."

Junior guard Faith Woodard (Brandon, Fla./Freedom) led the way with 20 points, while senior guard Logan Battle (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) added eight points. Freshman point guard Dionna White (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill) had an all-around game with seven points, and a squad-best nine rebounds as well as a team-high six assists and seven steals.

Georgetown was slightly outrebounded by Memphis, 44-43, but shot 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the field and allowed the Tigers 30.6 percent (19-of-62) shooting. It was a sloppy game with the squads combining for 64 turnovers.

The Hoyas are currently 1-1 on the road.

Memphis controlled the first quarter as turnovers plagued the Blue & Gray early. The Tigers made it difficult for the Hoyas to score, taking a 16-4 lead at the end of the first period.

Georgetown battled back in the second quarter, staging a 7-0 run to cut the lead to six, 21-15. Junior guard Jade Martin (Bloomington, Minn./John F. Kennedy) and Woodard combined for all seven points as the Hoyas fought back.

Memphis answered, but it was once again the combo of Woodard and Martin who kept it close. In the final minute, Martin hit a layup to make it 25-19 in favor of the Tigers going into the break. In total, it was an 11-4 run for the Hoyas to end the half.

Georgetown couldn't take the momentum from the second quarter into the second half as Memphis quickly hit a three to make it a nine-point game. Every attempt at a comeback was thwarted as the Tigers continued to build the advantage going up by as much as 16 on two occasions. The Blue & Gray ended the third quarter trailing, 42-28.

The Hoyas slowly chipped away at the lead early in the fourth quarter as Adair kept the personnel that were producing on the floor. Looking at a 13-point deficit with 6:27 to play, Georgetown staged an 8-0 run to cut it to five, 46-41. The run was fueled by four points from Woodard and four from White. The freshman was also crafty on defense with a big steal in the run.

Memphis battled back making it a nine-point game, 53-44, with 1:58 to play. However, a furious 9-1 Georgetown run over the next minute and 46 seconds cut the lead to just one, 54-53, with 12 seconds remaining.

Battled sparked it with a layup, and White added a free throw before Woodard took over. The junior guard managed the next six points and two steals to get GU right back in it.

Forced to foul, Memphis hit a pair from the charity stripe. The Hoyas came down and had a good look at the 3-pointer, but it clanged off the rim giving the Tigers the ball as they hit a free throw with two seconds left to seal the 57-53 victory.

The Hoyas will travel to the University of Vermont over the Thanksgiving holiday to play in the TD Bank Classic. Georgetown will face Quinnipiac University on Friday at 5 p.m., and then play either the host Catamounts or St. Francis (Brooklyn) on Saturday.

Live stats and a webcast will be available for both contests at www.GUHoyas.com.