March 20, 2010

Box Score in PDF Format | Tournament Central

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Monica McNutt made sure Georgetown's long wait to get back to the NCAA tournament was worthwhile.

McNutt hit consecutive 3-pointers to start the second half and fifth-seeded Georgetown rolled to a 62-42 victory over No. 12 seed Marist on Saturday night to win the opener in its first NCAA tournament trip in 17 years.

McNutt scored 14 points and Latia Magee added 11 for the Hoyas (26-6), who were making just their second trip to the NCAA tournament and first since 1993.

After getting off to a sluggish start, Georgetown put the game by scoring the first 13 points of the second half, sparked by the two 3-pointers by McNutt, to take a 15-point lead.

The Hoyas advanced to play the winner of the game between fourth-seeded Baylor and No. 13 Fresno State in the second round of the Memphis Regional.

Corielle Yarde scored 15 points to lead Marist (26-8), which was held to a season low in points.

The Red Foxes were unable to duplicate their memorable run to the regional semifinals in their last trip to the Bay Area in 2007. That year, the Red Foxes came into Stanford and knocked off fourth-seeded Ohio State and fifth-seeded Middle Tennessee to become just the third No. 13 seed ever to make it to the round of 16.

It looked like they might have some more of that magic early. They scored the first seven points of the game and led for much of the first half because of Georgetown's poor shooting start.

But Marist struggled to get into any sort of offensive rhythm against Georgetown's aggressive pressure defense. So when the Hoyas outside shots started to fall, the game quickly turned into a mismatch.

After the two long baskets by McNutt, Sugar Rodgers hit a 3-pointer and Tia Magee and Jaleesa Butler scored on jumpers to make it 38-23.

By the time Erica Allenspach hit a 3-pointer to end the run, Marist had gone more than 9 minutes without a basket. Marist never threatened after that, missing 22 of its first 25 shots of the second half as the frustration mounted. The Red Foxes shot 22 percent for the game.

Rachele Fitz, the all-time leading scorer and rebounder for Marist, ended her brilliant career with a dud. She shot 2 of 10 from the field and scored 10 points.