WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University women's basketball team battled until the end with the Richmond Spiders in an exciting home opener in McDonough Arena. The Hoyas came up short in the final few seconds of the game and fell 51-49 to Richmond. With the loss, GU drops to 0-2 on the early season while the Spiders advance to 2-1 overall.
 
Head Coach James Howard
"We executed it well at the end and Tatiana [Thompson] made a good move and finish. Our main thing we're trying to focus on is just slowing down and making sure we get something good out of our plays. We knew Richmond's top player would be a problem. We are going to keep on working on rebounding, shooting and defending leading up to Saturday's game at Pitt. Shooting has been our biggest problem since the summer, people making shots. I knew that going into this year so we just need some of our players to step up and fill the shooting role. We're going to keep working and keep grinding and hopefully we will put something together."
 
How it Happened

• Despite the Spiders opening up right away with a 3-pointer, the Hoyas went on a 16-4 run in the first quarter. Nikola Kovacikova scored back-to-back threes for GU until Richmond responded and made it 18-15 at the end of the first.
• The scoring went back and forth in the second with each team taking back its lead every few minutes. Kovacikova went 1-2 at the free throw line with seven seconds on the clock to make it a two-point game, 27-25 in favor of the Spiders, before entering the half.
• The Spiders came right out of the half with a basket and a free throw to extend their lead to five, but the Blue & Gray answered with a 5-2 run and dominated on the boards to make it a one-point game halfway through the third quarter.
• Richmond responded with seven-straight points in the remainder of the third to extend its lead 39-31. A free throw by Tatiana Thompson and a three from Tayanna Jones cut the difference, but it was not enough as the teams headed into the final stanza.
• Jones entered the fourth quarter draining a three-pointer from the top of the key. Anita Kelava found Thompson under the basket for two and Brianna Jones made it a two-point difference with a trey, forcing Richmond to call a timeout.
• With 30 seconds left on the clock and Richmond up by two, Thompson made it even with a basket underneath. Richmond was fouled with six seconds left on the clock and made a pair of free throws. Kovacikova tried to score the game winner with a three in the last few seconds but her shot came up just short as the final buzzer went off and GU fell 51-49.

 
Of Note

• Kovacikova had a team-high 15 points along with five boards. Thompson recorded 13 points and Brianna Jones rounded out the top-three scorers with seven and a team high of nine rebounds. Anita Kelava managed to pull down seven and Graceann Bennett tallied five rebounds.
• Both squads recorded 39 rebounds each and GU forced 16 turnovers. The Blue & Gray also managed nine steals.
• Georgetown shot 31.1 percent (19 for 61), but allowed the Spiders 34.5 percent (19 for 55) shooting from the field.

 
Up Next
The Hoyas will hit the road to Pittsburgh on Saturday at Petersen Events Center.  The opening tip is scheduled for 1 p.m.  Live stats and a stream via ESPN ($) will be available at GUHoyas.com.