With the NCAA tournament set to begin Saturday, Georgetown is waiting to book its flights after the selection show airs Monday night.
Projected by ESPNW as a No. 5 seed, the 18th-ranked Hoyas (22-8, 11-5 Big East) are looking to improve on a sixth seed from the 2010 season, when they made just their second Sweet 16 appearance.
Georgetown took down Princeton 65-49 in the first round last March. In the second round, the Hoyas eliminated Maryland 79-57. Georgetown then squared off against Connecticut in the Hoyas’ first Sweet 16 for the first time since 1993, but the Hoyas’ fell 68-63..
Now, after two consecutive appearances in the tournament, Georgetown has its sights set on the Elite Eight, a feat the Hoyas have yet to achieve. However, coming off of a staggering 39-32 loss to West Virginia in the Big East quarterfinals, the Hoyas will have to shake off memories of the game that saw them shoot just 11.4 percent with four field goals in the first 20 minutes for their lowest first-half point total of the season.
Having experienced a similar loss to St. John’s earlier this year, the Hoyas looked at the defeat as motivation and a learning experience.
Following the St. John’s game, senior Tia Magee said, “We’re going to learn from [the loss], try not to make the same mistakes that we made before. We’re just going to put it behind us and take this next step forward because we have a lot of big games coming up so we don’t have time to dwell on our loss.”
Magee said the loss to the Mountaineers could prove beneficial.
“Learn from [the loss], from the mistakes and things that we didn’t do right in that last game. [We’re] definitely not dwelling on it.”
Georgetown will look to the losses for inspiration, but the Hoyas are focused on the future - one that may take them to the Sweet 16 and, perhaps, further.
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