Jan. 11, 2008

Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University women's basketball team (10-4, 0-1 BE) plays in its second straight BIG EAST road contest of the week at Villanova (10-5, 0-2) on Saturday afternoon, January 12 inside The Pavilion at 2p.m. on Villanova's campus. Live stats will be available via www.guhoyas.com.

Prior to Tuesday's loss at Cincinnati, Georgetown started the season 10-3 overall for the first time under fourth year head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. Through the season's first 13 games, the Blue and Gray accumulated its best statistics - a 45.7 percent field goal percentage, 16.0 assists per game, scoring offense (67.9) and scoring defense (52.9) - under Coach Flournoy.

The Hoyas have started the season 6-0 at home for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign.

Hoyas in the Series vs. Villanova ...The Hoyas and the Wildcats are two of the original seven BIG EAST Conference members. Villanova leads the all-time series 30-16. The teams have split the last six meetings but Georgetown is winless in its last five games at The Pavilion.

Georgetown is 4-6 in the last ten games vs. VU.

Last season in Washington, D.C., Georgetown snapped a season-long six-game losing streak with a 54-51 win over Villanova. Kieraah Marlow had 14 points and eight boards while Meredith Cox and Shanice Fuller added 11 points apiece for the Blue and Gray.

Fast Breaks ... Georgetown ranks fourth in the BIG EAST and started the week ranked 11th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 54.1 points per game. The Hoyas have held seven opponents to under 53 points.

-- Georgetown is10-0 when they hold the lead with five minutes to go.

-- GU has had a higher field goal percentage than its opponent in 12 of the 14 games this season. Georgetown has also shot 50 percent or better in a half on 11 different occasions and finished a game shooting over 50 percent three times.

-- Georgetown held a 55-21 halftime lead at Fordham. The 55 points is the biggest single-half scoring output in the Terri Williams-Flournoy era.

-- The starting five of Kristin Heidloff, Brina Pollack and Kenya Kirkland at the guards, Kieraah Marlow at forward and Aminata Diop at center started in the season's first six games. Sophomore Jaleesa Butler earned her first career start vs. VCU to give the front line a little more length and Butler has stayed in the starting lineup ever since. Junior transfer Krystle Hatton started in each of the last four games replacing 6-5 center Aminata Diop, who is dealing with a sprain of her right knee. Diop recorded four points and four rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench on Tuesday.

-- Senior co-captain and leading scorer Kieraah Marlow connected on her 500th career field goal vs. Brown. She's made 45.9 percent of the field goals over her career (506-1102). She became the seventh member of the Hoya program to knock down at least 500 FG's. Marlow is one of three BIG EAST players to to rank in the top 15 in both scoring (16.2-7th) and rebounding (7.1-14th) (Angel McCoughtry-UofL & Jill Stephens-UC)

-- Junior transfer Beata Widding had surgery to extract a bone from her ankle on Nov. 19, 2007. The guard was listed as "out indefinitely" but dressed in uniform for the first time this season vs. Brown eight days ago.

-- The Hoyas were given some terrific news during the second week of November. Georgetown's recruiting class was ranked sixth in the nation by Mike Flynn's Blue Star Report and 18th nationally by HoopGurlz.com. It marks Coach Flournoy's first top 10 recruiting class.

Shanice Not Suffering from Sophomore Jinx ... Sophomore guard Shanice Fuller started at point guard in every game last season as a freshman. Fuller finished her rookie campaign averaging 5.0 points to go along with 83 assists and 95 turnovers.

As a sophomore this season, Fuller ranks seventh in the BIG EAST with 4.1 assists per game and she has compiled 36 assists vs. just 8 turnovers in the last six games. The Chesapeake, Va. native compiled 61 assists already this season despite coming off the bench in all but one game. Fuller ranks 27th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.08).

Marlow Continues to Lead the Hoya Attack ...Senior forward Kieraah Marlow now ranks sixth on the school's all-time list in scoring (1,447 career points) and fifth in rebounding (726). Marlow, who earned All-BIG EAST Second Team honors in each of the last two seasons, is one of four Hoya players to rank in the school's top 10 in both categories.

The Coatesville, Pa. native tallied double figures 78 times in her career and 13 times this season. Her 28 career double-doubles ranks third among active BIG EAST players and she ranks seventh in the league in scoring (16.3 ppg). She's led the team in scoring in ten of the team's 14 games this season.

Pollack Adding Leadership in Her First Full Season ...In her first three career starts, all this season, guard Brina Pollack recorded a career-high 12 points each time. Pollack, a transfer from Purdue, was limited to just 13 games last season due to injuries.

In this season's first 14 games, the Marlboro, N.J. native ranks second on the team with 25.6 minutes and 8.7 points per game. Pollack ranks 12th in the BIG EAST with 3.8 assists per game. She posted new career-highs with 20 points and six rebounds at Penn State.

Butler Playing with Loads of Confidence ...Sophomore forward Jaleesa Butler has really come in during her sophomore season. Butler had her first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds at Towson. Against East Tennessee State, Butler had her second career double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.

The St. Louis, Mo. native ranks second on the team and 18th in the league with 6.9 rebounds per game and ranks third on the squad with 8.3 points. Butler posted the best offensive game of her career with 20 points and nine field goals vs. Loyola Marymount.

Since entering the starting lineup seven games ago, Butler is averaging 11.9 points and 7.3 rebounds and connecting on 51 percent of her field goals to go along with 10 blocks.

McNutt Is On a Tear ... Freshman Monica McNutt came off the bench and averaged 13.0 points on 55 percent shooting 2.5 blocks and 1.5 steals in the Hokie Hardwood Classic at Virgnia tech.

McNutt set new career-highs with 15 points and three three-pointers in the loss vs. East Carolina before netting 11 points to go along with three treys, three steals and three blocks in 20 minutes in the win over Furman.

McNutt, who was named Washington Post Honorable Mention All-Met during her days at the Academy of the Holy Cross, scored 26 points over that weekend after scoring 23 points through the team's first 10 games.

McNutt is coming off the bench and averaging 10.5 points on 47 percent shooting, including 8-18 from three point land in the last four games to go along with seven steals and seven blocks in the span.

Scouting the Villanova ... Villanova has lost three of its last four but the Wildcats rank third in the BIG EAST in scoring defense (53.3) and lead the conference in free throw shooing (77%).

Stacie Witman (15.7), Laura Kurz (14.0) and Lisa Karcic (12.4) are all averaging double figures.