Sugar Rodgers, Tia Magee and Monica McNutt gathered around the podium, looked at the final box score and kept shaking their heads. They had just led Georgetown to its second win over a Top 10 team this season - in a game in which the Hoyas committed 28 turnovers.
''We just had butterfingers,'' Rodgers said.
''Crazy,'' Magee said.
''They did just enough to make our fingers a little slipperier - is that a word? - make our fingers slip a little more than usual,'' McNutt said. ''But fortunately we grounded this one out, because those turnovers are ugly.''
No. 19 Georgetown's high-risk, high-reward attack had plenty of both Tuesday night in a 65-60 win over West Virginia. The Hoyas (16-5, 4-3 Big East) were only marginally more careless than the Mountaineers (19-2, 5-2), who gave the ball away 23 times in a game that had more total turnovers (51) than made field goals (40).
Georgetown won by outrebounding West Virginia 32-17 and overcoming an eight-point deficit in the final 8:40. Rodgers finished with 30 points, including a falling-down driving layup with 50 seconds to play that put the Hoyas ahead for good.
The win, following a victory over then-No. 4 Tennessee last month, makes another national statement for a program that was a bit of an embarrassment not too long ago.
''I can remember my freshman year, when it was, 'No, I just go to Georgetown. I don't play on the basketball team,''' said McNutt, a senior. ''And now I can't wait to tell people.''
Rodgers was one of two Hoyas with seven turnovers, and McNutt had 13 points and six turnovers for Georgetown. The Hoyas shot 51 percent against a Mountaineers team that entered the game ranked No. 2 in the country in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot an average 31.2 percent.
The Hoyas were also 21 of 24 from the free throw line.
Liz Repella had 20 points, and Sarah Miles had 14 points and 11 turnovers for West Virginia. Coach Mike Carey and his players left the gymnasium without taking questions from reporters.
The game clashed the Hoyas' speed against a stingy defense, so it was hardly surprising it was so ragged. Still, many of Georgetown's turnovers were unforced errors - three-second violations, sloppy dribbles, passes that seemed to be headed nowhere.
''We were really just turning the ball over way too many times,'' Georgetown coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. ''But going back and making the defensive stops gave us opportunities to not get so far behind.''
Georgetown opened with a 10-0 run, lost the lead, then pulled away to go ahead 35-28 at the half. The Mountaineers had a pair of 8-0 spurts in the second half and led 53-45, but turnover after turnover kept either team from pulling away.
Rodgers' acrobatic layup made it 62-60 in the final minute. She then sank two free throws with 19 seconds remaining, and McNutt made one of two in the final seconds to cap a win that keeps Georgetown back above .500 in the Big East after losses to Marquette and Notre Dame earlier this month.
''Our coaches have described this as a bad roller coaster, and now we're trying to steady this thing,'' McNutt said. ''The fact that we beat two top 10 teams just speaks to our greatness and what we can do.''
