This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Nora Princiotti.

WBB at Georgetown from The GW Hatchet on Vimeo.

Down most of the night to crosstown rival Georgetown, the Colonials had a chance to cut into the Hoyas lead Tuesday with 6:24 remaining. Megan Nipe took an open three pointer hoping to extend GW’s run to 17-7, but her open shot rattled in-and-out of the rim.

GW’s two top scorers, Nipe and Danni Jackson, managed just 15.6 percent shooting in the Colonials’ eventual 78-57 loss to Georgetown (5-2) Tuesday. Jackson never scored from the field, and the Colonials made a paltry 28.8 percent of their shots overall.

“I thought we settled. We settled to take contested jumpers,” head coach Jonathan Tsipis said.

The GW women couldn’t find their rhythm all night, struggling especially on fast break opportunities. Jackson threaded pass after pass off the break, but her teammates couldn’t finish around the basket.

Going into the contest, it was the Hoyas who were supposed to struggle from downtown – averaging just 3.2 three pointers per game. Instead, it was GW (4-3) that made only a fifth of their shots from beyond the arc, going 4-20 on the night.

The Colonials defense ran into a 6’5” wall in Natalie Butler, who led the Hoyas in scoring with 17 points. GW once again struggled in the paint, unable to contain Georgetown’s bigs and giving away extra chances. The Hoyas would outscore the Colonials in the paint 44-28.

“I thought we broke down as it got later in the shot clock and they were able to get a second or a third touch inside,” Tsipis said. “We didn’t do a good job of keeping them to one and done and I think that got their confidence up a little more.”

The Hoyas went into their locker room at halftime up 36-25, capping a 15-4 run with a third try layup by Andrea White over outstretched Colonial arms.

By the end of the game, Georgetown would have five players, including Butler, in double figures: White with 15 points and 13 boards, Katie McCormick adding another 15 points, Faith Woodard, who recorded 13 points and nine rebounds, and Samisha Powell with 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Tsipis tried to change things up defensively in the second half, sending his team out running a 2-3 zone, but Georgetown still found easy looks, getting more than half of their points in the paint. They would go on an 18-4 run to open the second half, putting GW in a hole it couldn’t see out of.

Freshman Caira Washington, a Georgetown Day product, recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, as well as five blocks, while matching up against the towering Butler.  She was the lone bright spot in an otherwise lackluster starting lineup, but unfortunately fouled out with 5:56 left to play.

“I knew I had to come out stronger because [Butler], she’s a big post player and my main role in the game today was to box her out and get to the boards and not let her get rebounds,” Washington said.

GW’s bench once again stepped up with the starters struggling on offense, outscoring the Hoya’s second unit 16 to 6. Two threes from sophomore Aaliyah Brown and another from freshman Shannon Cranshaw led the Colonials on a 14-5 run in the middle of the second half.

“I think [the bench] is a big factor just so that everybody’s not tired. If we rotate more people like that, more people are fresh,” Brown said.

The Colonials will try to rebound against Towson on Saturday, opening up a seven-game homestand at the Smith Center.