No. 16 Georgetown (19-5, 7-3 Big East) looks to continue its winning ways at home tonight against Big East foe South Florida (10-13, 1-8 Big East).
The matchup shapes up as a tune-up for the Blue and Gray, who will travel for a two-game road trip against St. John’s and No. 10 DePaul afterward. South Florida is currently riding a two-game losing streak and has won just one of their last 10 contests.
The Hoyas, on the other hand, hope to extend their current five-game Big East winning streak that includes a 55-38 home victory on Saturday against Cincinnati as well as a key victory at home on Jan. 25 against then-No. 9 West Virginia.
While the Bulls are one of the weakest Big East opponents on tap for the Hoyas this season, no conference game is an easy win. In South Florida’s game against No. 8 Notre Dame on Saturday, they came close to defeating the Irish but fell, 76-68. Drawing conclusions from individual games can be dangerous, but South Florida proved they can hang with the Big East’s finest foes last weekend.
The Hoyas treated their own loss to Notre Dame earlier in the season as a wake-up call; they have not lost since and have worked their way back into a tie for fourth in the Big East standings.
Tonight Georgetown will have to watch for South Florida junior guard Andrea Smith, who averages 17.2 points per game, as well as her twin sister Andrell Smith, who is second on the team with 7.8 points per contest.
In the paint, Georgetown junior forwards Tia Magee and Adria Crawford will have to continue their recent strong rebounding efforts as they contend with South Florida senior center Porche Grant, who averages 9.4 rebounds per game.
Tip-off at McDonough Arena is set for 9 p.m.