RICHMOND, Va. – The Georgetown University women's basketball team opened the 2018-19 season with a 73-53 victory over the University of Richmond Spiders Tuesday evening at the Robins Center. A big first half propelled the Blue & Gray to the victory to move to 1-0 on the season. Richmond fell to 0-1 on the year.
"Our seniors and upperclassmen really came to play today, I didn't know how we would start and the way we started was fantastic," said Georgetown Head Coach
James Howard. "They shot the ball well, they distributed the ball and they played defense. So overall I was proud of our effort tonight."
Graduate student
Dorothy Adomako (Midlothian, Va. / Cosby), playing in her first game back from injury, led the way with 14 points hitting 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. She also managed three rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. Guard
Mikayla Venson (Arlington, Va. / Yorktown/Virginia), senior guard
Dionna White (Baltimore, Md. / Milford Mill) and junior forward
Anita Kelava (Zagreb, Croatia / Croatian National Team / Maine) all managed 11 points. White had nine rebounds, while Kelava had nine boards as well as three blocks in her first game in a Georgetown uniform.
The Hoyas outrebounded the Spiders, 45-31, and forced 13 turnovers on eight steals while committing just 11 turnovers in the contest. Georgetown shot 46.4 percent (32-of-69) from the field, and allowed just 30.4 percent (17-of-56) shooting from Richmond.
The Hoyas jumped out to a quick lead with a balanced attack. Four of the five starters scores in the first six minutes of action as GU built that into an 11-point lead, 16-5, forcing a Richmond timeout. Georgetown added two more before the end of the quarter as the first 10 minutes ended with a 20-7 advantage for the Blue & Gray. An impressive seven different players scored for the Hoyas in the first stanza.
As Richmond fought to get back into the game, Georgetown found ways to score as White managed a put back and Venson hit a 3-pointer. Back-to-back treys from the Spiders made it 27-15, but Adomako answered with a jumper from the top of the key to stop the Richmond momentum. Georgetown's pace was too much for the Spiders as the hot-shooting Hoyas distributed the ball and looked up the court for buckets in transition.
Georgetown shot an impressive 58 percent from the field in the first half, and the defense forced five turnovers on three steals as the Blue & Gray went into the half leading, 41-16.
Adomako opened the second half with a 3-pointer from the corner which would spark a 10-3 run which included eight points and a steal from the senior. Richmond would not give up as the Spiders began hitting, and fouls put them on the line. Richmond battled to cut the lead to 63-37 at the end of the third as the Spiders would not go away quietly.
The Spiders began the final stanza with a 7-2 run to make it 65-44 and force a Georgetown timeout. As the coaching staff mixed in new lineups, Richmond tried to mount a comeback, but it was too little too late. Down the stretch the Hoyas held on to the 20-point advantage cruising to the 73-53 victory.
The Hoyas will host the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks on Friday evening at McDonough Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Live stats and a broadcast with Dan Ward calling the action will be available on GUHoyas.com.
Tickets are available at WeAreGeorgetown.com. New this season, women's basketball tickets are going digital. Fans will now be able to manage their tickets entirely online.
