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Next up is crosstown rival Georgetown. This is a competitive rivalry with GW holding a 20-17 series edge over the Hoyas. We last played in the 2019-2020 season, when GW came out on top 52-49, with our top performers being Tori Hyduke and Kayla MoKwuah (blast from the past?).
GU is a member of the Big East, where they are picked to come in 9th in the 11 team conference. This year, GU is off to a 4-4 start, with key wins over Navy and soon to be A10 member Loyola of Chicago. They have losses to Davidson, Columbia, and Temple (in what was Caranda Perea’s best game as an Owl). GU is led by a pair of 5’10” guards, Kelsey Ransom (Big East All Freshmen Team last Year) and Milan Bolden-Morris (a graduate student from Boston College). Both average double figures-- Ransom at 12.3 ppg and Bolden-Morris at 11.8 ppg. Both also are shooting better than 40% from the field, with Bolden-Morris hitting 40% on 3’s after making 19-47 attempts.
For GW, defense will be the key as usual. GU’s tall guards will pose a real challenge to our smallish backcourt, so a key will be how well our help defense compensates. On offense, GW has made significant strides in recent games. In our last 3 games, GW has shot 39.3% from the field on 59-150 attempts, and 43% from beyond the arc, on 19-44 shooting. Nya Lok has been a big part of that because her outside threat has not only resulted in points, but has opened up the lane for our bigs. Taiwo and Moore seem to have troubles scoring against defenses that clog up the paint. Taiwo scored more easily in the second half of the UVA game when the Cavaliers started to pay more attention to Lok. We also have to resist the bad and risky passes to cut down on turnovers and reduce the number of easy baskets for GU.
All in all, this game should be a good measure of our progress to date.
Last edited by xAC (12/07/2021 12:23 pm)
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There was a time when That School Down the Street was too much of a cupcake to be anything other than schedule filler between good rivals when the team needed an easy W. Not any more. I totally agree that this is a good measurment of where the women´s team stands, and how much farther it will need to improve.
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Missed this earlier... In case anyone wants to watch this game and had already paid to watch the Naples affair for the men, you can catch this game on FloSports/Hoops, because your month isn't over yet.
But don't forget to cancel your subscription!
Last edited by xAC (12/07/2021 6:23 pm)
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Women led by 10 or 12 at the half, but blew it at the start of the 2nd half (sound familiar?) to lose 63-68 iirc.
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Disappointing from some perspectives. We outscored them in three out of four quarters, but had a disastrous 3Q, especially defensively. After holding GU to 30% in the first half, they lit us up for 71% on 15-21 shooting. They got a lot of easy looks in transition, not because of turnovers, but because of bad shot selection led to poor transition defense.
The offense is continuing to improve. Georgetown’s defense was not very good, playing a zone that gave us 32 three point shots. We hit 10 of them, with Laureano and Lok combining for 8-20, but we need to get a higher percentage from the others. Laureano had a great all around game, finishing with 24 pts., 3 steals and a blocked shot that she turned into a layup. As a team, we shot 39% for the game, and took 17 more shots than GU. The difference ended up being GU’s 24 FTs to our 10. The officiating was not balanced, and early fouls that limited Lok to just 17 minutes were decisive. She eventually fouled out and finished with 9 pts.
For now, Lok and Laureano are our prime scorers (and they should have the green light to shoot), while the others still seem to be struggling a bit. Hopefully, Frames will be back for next game, as Gingras can’t handle all the minutes, and Frames is better at handling the ball. Also, it’ll be good to get Ty Moore back, who is our best inside offensive player and rebounder. If we can get to our regular rotation and play together in the next 3 games, it’ll be a big plus going into A10 play.
This was a very winnable game, but a lack of defensive concentration to begin the second half really hurt us. Give GU credit- they shot lights out in the second half.
Last edited by xAC (12/09/2021 11:46 pm)