The Georgetown Voice, 11/3/23 Women's Preview by The Georgetown Voice

THE BASKETBALL ISSUE

November 3, 2023

BAS KETBALL PREVIEW

3 Tasha Tough LANGSTON LEE

4 Meet the new players: Women’s basketball recruits

LUCIE PEYREBRUNE

5 BIG EAST women’s basketball predictions JO STEPHENS

6 “Earned, Never Given”: Women’s basketball begins their rebuild LOU JACQUIN

Women’s basketball battles for bracket dominance BRADSHAW CATE

2023-24 season poster

DANE TEDDER

The opinions expressed in The Georgetown Voice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty, or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated. Columns, advertisements, cartoons, and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of The Georgetown Voice. The university subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression of its student editors. All materials copyright The Georgetown Voice, unless otherwise indicated. COVER BY TINA SOLKI

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TASHA TOUGH

BY LANGSTON LEE

On April 11, Tasha Butts was hired as the 11th head coach in Georgetown women’s basketball history. On Oct. 22, she died at 41 years old after a two-year battle with breast cancer. While her tenure lasted only 194 days, she etched a memorable legacy in the eyes of not only her players but of the entire Georgetown community.

Before coming to Georgetown, Butts was known for her extensive career as both a player and assistant coach. At Tennessee, Butts played for the Volunteers as a forward before being drafted 20th overall by the Minnesota Lynx in 2004. After a three-year professional career, she spent 17 years as an assistant coach at four different Division I institutions—most notably, she spent eight seasons with LSU between 2011 and 2019. In her last stop before Georgetown, she was the associate head coach for Georgia Tech between 2019 and 2023.

Tasha Butts was a force as a player and an outstanding basketball coach. She was also much more than that.

It was at Georgia Tech where Butts was first diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer in 2021. That diagnosis sparked the “Tasha Tough” campaign, a movement to fund breast cancer research and promote awareness. The initiative spread all across the basketball world, especially at Georgia Tech, where students raised over $100,000 for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund to make healthcare and breast cancer screenings more financially accessible. Reflecting on the meaning of the phrase, interim head coach Darnell Haney said that “Tasha Tough” was a call to action for all of us to be decent people, both to and for one another— one that carries on after Butts’s passing.

working off of that same base to this day,” graduate forward Graceann Bennett said. “Coach Haney has been really clear about being an extension of Coach Tasha, and making sure that Tasha’s voice is still at the forefront of our program.”

Haney first met Butts on the recruiting trail when he was head coach at Jacksonville University and she was at LSU. “We were recruiting a kid out of Jacksonville that we thought we may be able to get,” Haney said. “But when LSU and Tasha came in and body-snatched her up it was over.”

change his mind. “We call them the four Ts,” Haney said. “Tasha, Tough, Talented, and Together.”

“Being ‘Tasha Tough’ is being tough on the floor but powerful off the floor as well,” Haney said. “Being ‘Tasha Tough’ is actually being empathetic.”

If you talk to anyone on the Georgetown women’s basketball team, they would tell you that this is still Butts’s team, despite her absence. In an interview with , before she passed, Haney talked about the idea of “saving Tasha’s place” at the helm of this program, a sentiment echoed by the players.

“When Coach Tasha came in, she had a really clear direction for the program, and we’ve been

Haney knew of Butts from her stellar playing and coaching career, and after that meeting, he said he respected her toughness and leadership ability. “I always admired her grit, always admired her toughness,” Haney said. “As a coach, I always admired the sense of leadership she brought to the table.”

According to Haney, the respect was mutual—and what brought him to Georgetown. “I really wasn’t supposed to be here,” he said.

When Butts was hired in April, she needed to fill her staff and asked Haney to join. Although initially hesitant, it only took one visit and a glimpse at the vision Tasha had for this program to convince Haney to

Bennett told the even in the brief time they spent together, she found Butts to be a remarkable leader. “She was vulnerable and open with us about her fight against cancer,” Bennett said of Tasha’s first moments with the team. “It’s the nature of her personality and her essence. You would never know how difficult something was for her because of how much she embodies being a fighter. She just shows up to work every day.”

“Tasha Tough” was the mantra that Haney and his roster of strong-willed women bought into, and it’s the vision they hope will carry them through this upcoming season. The basketball world has lost an icon, and Georgetown has lost its unquestioned leader. It would be understandable for this team to fold under the weight of such a devastating loss.

But this is a “Tasha Tough” team. “It was easy for us as her team to show up to work every day and do right by her,” Bennett said, adding that in her absence she felt it was important to “do what she’d want us to do, which is focus on basketball and getting better.” In the six and a half months that Butts served as head coach, she sowed her very spirit into the fabric that makes up the program. Just like Butts, these women do not crumble when faced with adversity— they simply go out and do their jobs, because that’s what she would have wanted.

Amid an 11-year postseason drought, there is certainly a job to be done. But Haney is optimistic about the team and their ability to overcome expectations. “It’s turning back into Georgetown City,” Haney said. “The DMV is gonna be ours on the men’s side and the women’s side.”

After years of mediocrity, Georgetown basketball is hungry for more. Haney and the players are optimistic that their “Tasha Toughness” will help lift themselves to new heights. G

MEET THE NEW PLAYERS:

BY LUCIE PEYREBRUNE

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL RECRUITS

ALEX COWAN

G | GRADUATE

Alex Cowan returns to the DMV after four years (three active) at Wagner College on Staten Island. Cowan made a significant impact from the get-go at Wagner—she started 25 times in her freshman season in 2019-20, and after redshirting in 2020-21 due to an injury, she bounced back even stronger as the only Wagner player to start all 29 games of the 2021-22 season. Last year, she averaged 14.1 points per game, ranking fifth in scoring in the Northeast Conference (NEC), and received Second Team All-NEC honors. Prior to her time at Wagner, Cowan played for St. John’s College High School, just a 20-minute drive away in Northwest D.C. where she led her Cadets to three state titles.

Cowan brings much-needed scoring ability to the Hilltop. She will have to adjust quickly to the pace and physicality of play in the BIG EAST, but given her steady improvement in conference play last season, it should be an easy adjustment. Cowan’s shooting also will be an important aspect of her game that she’s bringing to the Hoyas. Cowan shot 35.5 percent from deep on 307 attempts across her three years at Wagner and is excited to continue playing at a higher level. “I feel I bring a calm and experienced presence to the team,” she wrote to the Voice. She will make an impact right away for the Hoyas, hopefully stepping into the vacant starting guard position left

MYA BEMBRY

F

Mya Bembry, a graduate transfer from Seton Hall, brings BIG EAST experience to an already experienced roster. She comes to the Hoyas as a second-time transfer after starting her career with one year at Penn State, and then three years in her home state of New Jersey at Seton Hall. In her most recent season at Seton Hall, Bembry started 31 of her 34 games, and averaged 4.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, putting her second only to Kelsey Ransom in rebounds based on last season’s numbers. Prior to her collegiate days, the 6' 1" forward tallied 1,718 points and 1,068 rebounds over her career at West Orange High School in West Orange, N.J.—both school records.

Bembry was the first commit under head coach Tasha Butts, who noted that Bembry’s BIG EAST experience and versatility would be valuable to the team in a press release from Georgetown Athletics. Bembry’s ability to play as both a guard and a post will allow her to see minutes from the start, likely coming off the bench to do the dirty work and fill in as needed. She hopes her experience will help Georgetown develop as a program, hoping to bring “a sense of calmness and maturity” to the team, in an email to the Voice. The transfer also expressed a desire to help the Hoyas “climb the rankings to set [Georgetown] as one of the major powerhouses of this league.”

As the only freshman on an experienced roster, Mayla Ham will have her work cut out for her to get minutes. But she already has a strong case for playing time, bringing her desperately needed 3-point shooting and rebounding to the Hilltop. Ham had a dominant high school career at Wayne Memorial, earning a slew of honors (including but not limited to 2021 all-state and 2021 First Team All Detroit-West, as well as being named as a 2022 Miss Basketball candidate) and leading her team to two state tournament final four appearances.

“I feel like I am a versatile, fast, and gritty player who likes to score,” she said in an email to the Voice. Ham excels as a shooting guard, but has the rebounding skills of a big, averaging 19.1 points per game on 37 percent 3-point shooting as well as 9.8 rebounds in her senior season. She’s a welcome addition for a team that shot only 27.6 percent from three last year and should fit in well alongside Kelsey Ransom and Graceann Bennett, who are both strong scorers but aren’t as dominant from beyond the arc. If she’s able to adjust to the collegiate game quickly and force her way into the lineup, Ham has the potential to fill the gap left by Milan Bolden-Morris’s graduation a couple of years ago as Georgetown’s go-to sharpshooter. She has high hopes for the season and wants the fans to buy in. “Come support!! This will be a season you won’t want to miss with the best coaches!” she wrote. G

Tier One: UConn

BIG EAST women’ s basketball preview

BY JO STEPHENS

UConn’s had a rocky road over the last few years, with a slew of injuries forcing them to navigate life without a consistently healthy roster. Despite these challenges, they managed to string together a 31-6 record last year before losing to Ohio State in the Sweet Sixteen, breaking a 14-year-long streak of Final Four appearances. All things considered, that was a good showing— but UConn’s been a dynasty for decades, and now they’re hungry for redemption. They’ve got the roster for it, with former National Player of the Year Paige Bueckers returning from injury to join Azzi Fudd, Aaliyah Edwards, Nika Mühl, and a talented crop of first years. If the Huskies can stay healthy (and honestly, even if they can’t), the BIG EAST is theirs for the taking.

Tier Two: Definitely Dancing

2 With six seniors and head coach Jim Flanery entering his 22nd season, Creighton is set up to sit toward the top of the conference. Over the past couple of seasons, the Bluejays have consistently made it to March Madness, and with this much experience packed onto the roster, that shouldn’t change. However, they don’t have any players taller than 6’1”, which will make it challenging for them in the paint. But head Flanery runs a unique system, relying on 3-pointers and many a backdoor cut, which should help mitigate their size disadvantage on the offensive end.

Tier Three: Middle of the Pack

Villanova’s at the start of a new era. Gone are the days of Maddy Siegrist, who could score at will, no matter the circumstances. She’s in the WNBA now, leaving behind a considerable void. So who will step up? Well, everyone, but particularly Lucy Olsen, who played Robin to Siegrist’s Batman last season. She has big shoes to fill to keep Villanova among the conference’s best, but she and her coach both seem confident that she’s capable of doing just that. Plus, she’s got other upperclassmen to chip in. This is a new-look Villanova team, but most definitely still a good one.

4 The Golden Eagles of Marquette were picked third in this year’s BIG EAST coaching poll, and for good reason. They’re another experienced squad who play teamoriented basketball, and knocked off both the aforementioned UConn Huskies and the formidable Texas Longhorns last season. They’re a confident group with excellent defensive chops and a head coach on the rise in Megan Duffy. Their first big test comes at home against preseason No. 23 Illinois on Nov. 11. If they can hold their own in that game, consider them pushed up another tier.

5 Seton Hall is right smack in the middle of the pack, at least per the preseason coaches’ poll. They’ve acquired a number of older players in the transfer portal, hopefully compensating for the players they lost after last season. With a solid coach in Anthony Bozzella and an intriguing mix of players, the Pirates could shake things up in the conference—but only time will tell whether or not they make that happen.

Tier Four: Figuring Things Out

St. John’s, much like Marquette, upset UConn last season. But a number of the players who led that charge have since graduated, leaving behind a somewhat unproven roster. The good news? The Red Storm still has Unique Drake, the reigning BIG EAST Sixth Woman of the Year and a Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention recipient. This could be an up-anddown year, but Drake & Co. should work to keep St. John’s in the mix for a tournament spot.

7 The Blue Demons of DePaul are in a similar position to Villanova. Their superstar player, Aneesha Morrow, left Chicago for LSU and the bright lights of Baton Rouge. So where does that leave DePaul? Honestly, that’s a good question. Morrow was DePaul women’s hoops. The silver lining for the Blue Demons, then, will have to be Anaya Peoples, a consistent player who displayed flashes of excellence both last season and at Notre Dame prior. They still have quite a hill to climb, but with Peoples paving the way, DePaul has a chance to put together a solid season.

8 Butler is, to be blunt, still attempting to climb out of the sub-basement of the BIG EAST. They went 1-27 overall two years ago, resulting in a coaching switch to Austin Parkinson; his leadership brought the Bulldogs to 11-19 last season. They’ve got a challenging schedule ahead, but their roster seems relatively complete on paper, giving fans at least a sliver of hope.

9 There’s really no way to predict how Georgetown will do this season. After former coach James Howard was let go, Tasha Butts was brought in to lead this year. Her time on the Hilltop was brief; she was hired in April but passed away from breast cancer at the end of October. She left a lasting legacy with this squad, though, which is focused, passionate, and determined to put her lessons into practice. Led by seasoned veterans Kelsey Ransom and Graceann Bennett and complemented by Seton Hall transfer Mya Bembry, Georgetown is beginning a rebuilding season full of potential.

10 Providence is facing a challenge this year. After winning just four conference games all of last season, they’re slated to play a difficult non-conference schedule. Additionally, their roster is on the younger side, having only two seniors compared to six underclassmen. It would be a shock to see them climb the conference ranking much at all.

11 Picked to finish last in the BIG EAST, Xavier has their work cut out for them. They’ve got a few seniors and graduate students who will have to step up and shoulder the load if they want to find success. With a new head coach in Billi Chambers, the Musketeers are definitely a team to watch in the future—but this particular season is looking like it’ll be a slog. G

“Earned, Never Given”: Women’s basketball begins their rebuild

BY LOU JACQUIN

The Georgetown women’s basketball program finds itself in a state of a flux after an inconsistent 2022-23 campaign. Last season was punctuated by some incredible highs and painful lows for the team as they went 14-17 overall (6-14 BIG EAST).

Perhaps their finest performance of the season came in their first game against the No. 4 UConn Huskies, a game they lost by only single digits. The game allowed the Hoyas to showcase an impressive mindset and grit against one of the strongest teams in the nation.

However, the Hoyas also succumbed to two five-game losing streaks, which included a devastating 41-point loss to Creighton in February. They failed to beat a single team ranked in the top 25 and lost to UConn by 30 in the second round of the BIG EAST tournament to end their season.

The downfall of the team came in its offense, which finished 284th nationally in points per game at 59.1, and 250th in assists per game at 11.7. This resulted in coach James Howard being removed and replaced by Tasha Butts, who came to Georgetown in April.

The Georgetown job was Butts’s first head coaching position, but she changed the tone for the better almost instantly. Though she died in October, the players and coaching staff she left behind are stepping up to the plate. The attitude and passion she brought the team remains—this team expects to show a ton of fight and energy every game.

The team saw the departure of two critical playmakers this offseason. Point guard Kennedy Fauntleroy, who as a freshman scored the second-most points on the team and started in all but one game, transferred to Oklahoma State.

Graduate guard Kristina Moore graduated, taking with her not just her 72.9 free throw percentage, the best on the team, but also a steady veteran presence and decent 3-point shooting stats.

Returning for the Hoyas is star 5’10’’ guard Kelsey Ransom. Not only is she the team’s highest scoring player on average, she also plays dynamic defense which does not allow her presence on the court to go unnoticed.

Another key piece is Graceann Bennett, who decided to stay on at Georgetown as a graduate student, making this her fifth year on the team. A team captain and recent winner of the BIG EAST sportsmanship award, Bennett makes her presence felt on the glass and can be an absolute terror on the defensive end.

Bennett and Ransom are joined by an everimproving supporting cast. Junior forward Brianna Scott saw an increase in her minutes per game, 3 point percentage, and points per game last season. Junior forward Kaliyah Myricks also became more of a contributor. Junior center Ariel Jenkins took more shots at the hoop, although her shooting splits still leave room for improvement, as she did not crack a 40 percent field goal percentage in her first two seasons. Increased contributions from these players may be exactly what the team needs to improve its fortunes for this upcoming season.

In her brief time at the Hilltop, Butts was able to secure a strong recruiting class. That started with working the transfer portal. Georgetown recruited 6’1” forward Mya Bembry from Seton Hall. Her experience with playing in the BIG EAST will help her hit the ground running with the Hoyas. Georgetown also scored big with Alex Cowan, a 5’7” guard out of Wagner College, where she averaged 14.1 points a game last season. Not only is her game currently very strong, she showed consistent improvement during her undergraduate years. Jumping from Wagner into the BIG EAST could definitely be challenging, but the combination of Cowan’s experience and skills will be very helpful if she manages to adjust smoothly.

Joining the Hoyas is also freshman forward Mayla Ham. Ham was a strong player in high school, even becoming a finalist for Michigan Miss Basketball 2023. College basketball can be quite an adjustment for players fresh out of high school, but Ham has shown great passion for Georgetown which will hopefully translate into a strong presence on the court.

The steady increase in the performance of the current players and the promising new recruits suggest that the team could start year one of the program rebuild on a strong note.

Interim head coach Darnell Haney is now the man in charge of this operation. While he struggled during his time as the head coach of the Jacksonville University Dolphins, his dedication to continue the work that Butts started and to build off of the strong foundation of Georgetown’s women’s team will hopefully point things in the right direction.

While everyone will once again look forward to the Hoyas taking on the UConn Huskies away on Jan. 7 and at home on Feb. 16, the must-win games are those that ended close last season. While Butler beat Georgetown by two points last season, Georgetown returned the favor, beating them by seven points. Now, Butler is predicted eighth, right above Georgetown, making their away (Jan. 3) and home (Feb. 24) matchups important to watch. Georgetown’s games against Providence will also be important, as the Hoyas narrowly beat them last season.

Outside of the BIG EAST, Georgetown's December matchups versus Wake Forest and Northwestern look to be interesting as both the Demon Deacons and the Wildcats may give an early insight to how the Hoyas may fare against high-major competition.

The recent turmoil that the Hoyas have had to endure and their inconsistent previous season make it hard to predict an outstanding season for the Hoyas. However, their slow and steady increase in success and the enduring tutelage of Tasha Butts will hopefully make this season a positive first step in their journey to reach the heights they hope to.

Every March, fans across the country wait with bated breath for the reveal of the NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket. North Carolina dropped to a 2-seed. Gasp. Arkansas is revealed at No. 4. Shock. Georgetown made the tournament this year! WHOA. “Selection Sunday” is a pseudo-holiday at this point, marking the beginning of March Madness, the affectionate nickname for the men’s basketball tournament.

Stories of shock and success have ingrained the historic tournament into our collective consciousness. The fabled ascendance of Georgetown basketball during the 1980s. Jimmy Valvano’s legendary survive-and-advance philosophy. A 16-seed upsetting a 1-seed for the first time in history, as University of Maryland, Baltimore County did to Virginia in 2018.

Historically, however, little attention has been paid to the women’s tournament, much less memorialization in bracket form. For example, the average viewership for the women’s championship game is only a third of what the men pull in. In addition, women’s college basketball makes only a fourth of the revenue the men’s season does—a direct reflection of the disproportionate attention and care historically placed on the twin league.

basketball

scene. Offices, families, colleges, and friends began adopting bracket challenges. That same Staten Island bar had a prize pool of $1.5 million before the federal government shut it down. Even President Joe Biden has joined in the fun (despite his 2023 bracket busting in the first round).

One of the most enticing draws of the tournament is the nearly impossible odds of picking a perfect bracket. One in 9.2 quintillion. You are more likely to win the lottery, become president of the United States, or go on a date with that cute person in your discussion class. If anyone ever becomes the first to have the perfect run, they will instantly become a celebrity.

Who doesn’t want that chance at fame?

prominence in March Madness grows.

The UConn vs. South Carolina rivalry has received significant attention in recent years, especially when they met in the National Championship at the end of March. Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma are generational coaches. Both are top 10 in recruiting rankings. Their meeting felt fabled, with article after article hyping each program up as titans of the game.

That being said, sports media has recently been on a fast break toward increasing visibility for women’s basketball. The NCAA extended the March Madness branding to the women’s tournament for the first time in 2022. While ESPN has shown all of the women’s tournament games for the past 20 years, the network decided in 2022 to move the women’s selection show from Monday to a Sunday timeslot alongside the men’s show.

As a result, viewership for the women’s 2023 selection show increased by 18.7 percent. With that increase in spectators comes the potential growth of the greatest tradition in college sports: bracket challenges.

But to discuss women’s basketball’s foray into the world of brackets, we need to talk about how March Madness bracket pools became so prolific that it seems like every club at Georgetown has one.

From their humble beginnings in a Staten Island bar, bracket pools exploded in the ’80s when the tournament expanded to 64 teams. Sports networks capitalized on their popularity with programming focused on analyzing the do-or-die March

With glory on the line, spectators immerse themselves in these games. NewsNation reports that businesses lose $14 billion annually to workers watching “the Big Dance.” At my high school, classes shut down for the two hours the Arkansas Razorbacks played in the tournament. Call me a heretic, but March Madness may be the biggest holiday of the year.

But despite the recent rise in popularity and visibility, there are still disparities between the number of brackets filled out for each tournament. According to Forbes, there were 11 times fewer brackets made for women’s basketball in 2022 compared to men’s in ESPN’s Tournament Challenge.

A new era is starting, though. Last year, 76 percent more people watched the women’s tournament as compared to the previous season. That attention means more brackets and more prizes.

And the attention isn’t likely to slow. More sports networks are now committing to promoting the women’s tournament. In 2023, ESPN had a prize pool of $75,000 for both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Advertisement slots for women’s games and pregame shows both sold out quickly, with rights to the women’s tournament now estimated to be worth $112 million.

Just as sports networks latched onto men’s college basketball rivalries and storylines during the 1980s to launch multimillion dollar careers, women’s basketball is gaining significant coverage and narrative-building as their

Some of this buzz is attributable to the teams’ recent March Madness branding and brackets. In a postgame video, the Gamecocks placed great emphasis on moving their name to the end of the bracket. The symbolism is potent for any viewer with a bracket. The team showed that they had arrived, and were ready to match their rivals.

Media and big performances during March Madness are also launching female student athletes into stardom with fans able to root for them through their brackets.

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark stamped her name into the March Madness history books, notching the first 40-point triple-double in both men’s and women’s tournament history. Celebrities across social media, like LeBron James, celebrated her accomplishment. James, who has 52.7 million followers on Twitter (now X), elevated her by saying, “Haha. But FR She’s so COLD!!!!!!! SHEESH.”

The growth of women’s college basketball looks more unstoppable than Aliyah Boston or A’ja Wilson. Sports media is fully buying into the sport, and they are finally bringing the fan attention each program deserves. Websites like ESPN’s Tournament Challenge and Yahoo Fantasy’s Women’s Tourney Pick’em have always made men’s bracket championships a spectacle, and now they’re finally starting to show the same appreciation to the women’s teams.

And maybe, just maybe, one of those women’s brackets will be the one in 9.2 quintillion. G

@ UConn @ Xavier vs. Butler @ Providence vs. Marquette @ Seton Hall vs. UConn @ Creighton vs. Villanova vs. St. John's @ DePaul @ Villanova vs. Xavier vs. Providence @ St. John's

vs. Le Moyne vs. Holy Cross @ Rutgers vs. Mount St. Mary's vs. American vs. Jackson State vs. Merrimack vs. TCU vs. Syracuse vs. Coppin State @ Notre Dame @ Butler @ Marquette vs. Creighton vs. DePaul vs. Seton Hall