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Fairleigh Dickinson's WBB winning streak ends after loss to Georgetown

Basketball, College, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Featured

December 11, 2022

Fairleigh Dickinson's women's basketball team's four-game winning streak ended in a 74-60 loss to Georgetown at the Rothman Center in Hackensack, New Jersey.

Both teams went toe-to-toe in the first quarter. With the game tied at 12 with four and a half minutes left, the Hoyas went on a 7-2 run over the next two minutes of action. By the time the period ended, Georgetown (6-3) was up 21-18.

In the second quarter, the Hoyas extended their advantage to double figures at 33-22 with less than six minutes remaining. Knights junior forward Chloe Wilson started strong in the first quarter, tallying six points, but she picked up her third personal foul at the six-minute mark.

Georgetown's smothering defense led to a 12-0 edge in points off turnovers. The Hoyas utilized their size and length to dominate the points in the paint 14-2 while shooting a sizzling 82 percent from the field.

Fairleigh Dickinson (7-3) was ice-cold, going scoreless for four and a half minutes. Meanwhile, Georgetown erupted for a 16-1 run to open up a 39-22 advantage. Finally, freshman Alba Rovira Ayuso canned back-to-back trifectas that stemmed the Hoyas surge temporarily.

"She's a freshman and a shooting forward and does not hesitate," Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball head coach Angelika Szumilo described. "She shoots the ball with a lot of confidence and gave us what we needed at that particular point on the offensive end."

By the time halftime rolled around, Georgetown had led 43-30. The Hoyas were cooking from the field, shooting 57 percent, while FDU struggled at 34 percent. Georgetown controlled the points in the paint 22-4 and rebounded 19-13.

"The points in the paint hurt us because they had higher percentage shots," Szumilo explained. "We just didn't come out with a sense of urgency and have to take care of the basketball better. They had easy points when we were turning the ball over, and we didn't take our team in making the appropriate pass."

Once the third quarter commenced, the Knights managed to trim the Hoyas lead down to single digits at 49-40 with six and half minutes to go on a triple from senior guard Dahomée Forgues who notched her tenth point in the game.

However, Georgetown exploded for a 7-0 run, increasing the margin to 56-40. FDU could not succeed on the offensive end as the Hoyas aggressive defense continued to cause turnovers. Heading into the final frame, Georgetown led 62-45.

The Knights trailed 66-48 with less than eight minutes left but put up a brave fight by staging a 9-0 run to slice the Hoyas' advantage back down to single digits, but that would be as close as FDU would get the rest of the way.

Dahomée Forgues led the Knights with 15 points, while Chloe Wilson tacked on 12. Georgetown had four players reach double figures, with Kelsey Ransom dropping a team-high 15 points.

"One of those games we just give up and lose by 20 or 30 points, but we just had to battle from being down digits, and they hit the shots when they needed to," Szumilo noted. "I was very proud of how we played and responded, and obviously, Chloe (Wilson) being in foul trouble didn't help. The loss, as much as nobody likes to lose and everyone wants to win, will help us down the line and learn from our mistakes."

"This group understands what works and doesn't work and plays for each other. The team chemistry on and off the court is excellent, and they don't care who gets the credit and want to get the job done."

Fairleigh Dickinson looks to get back on the winning track when they square off against Fordham (6-4) on Sunday at the Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx, with tip-off slated for 3 p.m.

"This is going to be a big test for us. Fordham likes to push the ball and averages 74 points per game," Szumilo stated. "It's a team that if we allow them to do what they're good at, it's going to be very hard to stop them. If we can dictate the tempo, get back on defense, and make tough shots in front of us, that's the focus."