The Georgetown University women’s basketball team was unable to finish the job against the George Mason University (GMU) Patriots on Nov. 14 and lost in overtime after blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. This loss is the Hoyas’ second blown lead in as many games, after a loss to No. 10 University of Maryland. The Hoyas (1-2) dominated for nearly the entire game, holding a double-digit lead at some point in each of the final three quarters, including their largest lead of the game 14 points with under nine minutes left in the game. Despite this, Georgetown collapsed defensively and was outscored by George Mason (3-1) 24-10 in the final stretch. The Hoyas took their first lead of the game about a minute in, after senior guard Victoria Rivera got fouled on a 3-pointer and drilled all 3 shots from the charity stripe. Graduate guard Laila Jewett subbed in near the seven-minute mark and subsequently locked down the Patriots on defense. GMU went scoreless for over four straight minutes thanks to Jewett, who grabbed 2 rebounds and picked up a block. Despite Georgetown holding a 12-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, their shooting told a different story. The Hoyas shot 4-17 from the field and 0-5 from deep, which was somehow better than their opponents’ 3-19 shooting. The Hoyas’ inability to drastically improve their early shooting performance contributed to their later collapse in the game they only shot 2-14 from deep and had no made 3-pointers in the fourth quarter or overtime. Georgetown played solid defense to start the second period with steals on each of the Patriots’ first two possessions, including 1 from sophomore guard Summer Davis, who had grabbed a defensive rebound in the opening minutes. Rivera re-entered the game for Davis in the second minute of the second quarter but struggled to make any shots, missing all 3 she took in the two-minute stretch before getting sat out again. Rivera, who made 3 free throws in the opening minute of the matchup, struggled throughout the rest of the game, failing to connect on any shot and finishing with only the 3 points she picked up early on. The Hoyas played solid defense the entire second quarter, limiting the Patriots to only 6 points 4 of which came in the final minute of the half signalling the defensive collapse that would come later in the game. The score entering halftime was 22-14 in favor of Georgetown. Davis and junior forward Cristen Carter dominated the boards in the third quarter, both grabbing multiple rebounds, on their way to individual double-digit rebounds. This, paired with their 10 and 11 points each, respectively, would give them each a double-double, the first for Carter as a Hoya. The Hoyas really started to pull away at the end of the third quarter, being up 36-24 by way of 7 points in the quarter from Jewett. Davis scored early in the fourth, giving the Hoyas their biggest lead of the game, but they would soon fall apart defensively. Georgetown seemed unable to stop any of GMU’s shots, allowing the Patriots to score 24 in the final quarter the same amount they scored the other three quarters combined with 65% shooting from the field. At the end of regulation, the score was 48-48. Georgetown seemed extremely demoralized following their collapse, considering they only scored 6 points in the 5-minute overtime period. The Hoyas continued to be absent on defense, allowing the Patriots to shoot 71% from the field somehow even better than their fourth-quarter comeback. Postgame, Georgetown Head Coach Darnell Haney said the team must be able to finish out games and work together following big games. “We’ve just got to finish, we’ve got to finish,” Coach Haney told Georgetown Athletics. “We have a group of people that we keep trying to get to connect and gel. They’re all coming from different walks of life, and they need to learn to connect and finish a job.” “We needed to think about how we were approaching the week after the Maryland game, and now we will do the same looking ahead to Tuesday,” Haney added. The Hoyas will return home Tuesday, Nov. 18, to take on Sacred Heart University (1-2) as they look to bounce back from their second embarrassing fourth-quarter collapse.
https://thehoya.com/sports/womens-basketball-hoyas-collapse-fall-to-gmu-in-overtime/
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL | Hoyas Collapse, Fall to GMU in Overtime
