2nd Half Rally leads to 12th straight win

Teionni McDaniel capped a dominant December by scoring 21 of her game-high 29 points after halftime as Georgetown rallied from a 10-point deficit to knock off Tennessee Southern, 83-76, and close out 2024 with a record of 14-1.

The Firehawks scored the first 4 points of the day before Abby Varney knocked down 2 free throws, the first of her team-high 7 points in the first quarter. Callie Jackson followed soon after with a layup to tie the game at 4. After a UTS basket, Sophie Smith knocked down a long 3 for Georgetown's first lead of the day. Varney followed suit and the Tigers had a 10-6 lead with 6:35 to go in the first. At the 4:41 mark, Varney scored inside to give GC a 14-8 edge. UTS responded with a 9-2 run to close the quarter and take a 17-16 lead to the 2nd.

After a scoreless first, Teionni McDaniel got going early in the 2nd with a three just 28 seconds in to tie the game at 19. She hit another 3 at the 6:52 mark for a 24-23 Tiger edge. UTS countered with a 10-2 run to take a 7-point lead with 3:19 to go. Free throws from Sophie Smith only briefly stopped the Firehawk momentum as they scored twice more inside. Georgetown took a timeout trailing 37-28 with 2:30 to go. The Tigers got a bucket out of the break as McDaniel grabbed an offensive board and scored inside. The Firehawks kept the momentum though and took a 42-32 lead to the halftime break. Turnovers proved costly in the half as Georgetown gave the ball up 13 times, leading directly to 12 UT Southern points. The Firehawks only shot 52% in the half.

UTS hit an early free throw in the 3rd for an 11-point lead. Georgetown answered with back-to-back-to-back buckets from Sophie Smith and Teionni McDaniel to cut the deficit to 5. Just past the midway point in the 3rd with Georgetown trailing 49-44, Teionni McDaniel shot a three and missed but grabbed her own rebound and kicked to a wide open Jordan Rogers, who drilled her 3. McDaniel then turned defense into offense with a steal and run out layup to tie the game at 49 with 3:55 to go in the 3rd. Georgetown soon came all the way back to take the lead as AJ Stevenson nailed a three with 2:55 to go to put the Tigers ahead, 54-53. The Firehawks answered with 6 straight to reassume control, but Sophie Smith connected from 3 as the clock expired to get Georgetown within 59-57 heading to the 4th.

The momentum carried over as the Tigers got a quick basket from Stevenson and a three from McDaniel to assume a 62-59 lead less than a minute into the fourth. Five straight from UTS put the Tigers behind again. Teionni McDaniel ended the spurt with a tying jumper at the 5:57 mark. After a defensive stop, Kayra Freeman hit 2 free throws, followed by another McDaniel steal and layup. UTS called a timeout as Georgetown surged ahead, 68-64, with 4:50 to play. The Firehawks kept coming and put another 5-point run together to take a 69-68 lead on Georgetown with 2:39 to go. The Tigers called on Teionni McDaniel again, who delivered her 5th three of the day for the lead again. After a Firehawk basket to tie the game at 71, Callie Jackson scored inside, and Abby Varney stole a pass on the next possession and fed McDaniel for a basket and a 75-71 lead with just under 90 seconds to play. Georgetown got a defensive stop to take the game under 1 minute but a turnover gave the Firehawks the ball with 48 seconds to go. A foul by the Tigers put the Firehawks on the line, where they hit one of two. Leading 75-72 with just 30 seconds to go, Georgetown needed ball security and free throws. They got both. AJ Stevenson knocked down 6 of 6 free throws in 23 seconds. Abby Varney knocked down 2 more with 7 seconds left as the Tigers completed the comeback for an 83-76 win.

Free throws proved a critical piece of the win as Georgetown made 21 of 22 at the line to seal the win, including a perfect 10-10 in the 4th. The Tigers also did a better job taking care of the ball in the 2nd half with just 5 turnovers. Teionni McDaniel finished with 29 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. She finished December averaging 22.4 PPG in the month and shooting 47% from beyond the arc. She hit 5-10 from downtown in today's win.

Sophie Smith pulled down 10 rebounds to go with 12 points and 2 assists. AJ Stevenson's free throw shooting led her to an 11-point day in her home state. Abby Varney finished with 10 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and a block. It was her 5th straight game with at least one block. Izzy Lamparty went 6-6 from the line to finish with 8 points and 4 boards off the bench.

The Tigers close out the non-conference schedule at 14-1 overall and now prepare for Mid-South Conference play, starting on January 9th. The Tigers will travel to Lindsey Wilson to kickoff league play with a scheduled tip time of 6:30pm ET.