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| Junior guard Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore had 19 points in the Firebirds win. Courtesy UDC Athleticsn. |
The Firebirds improved to 13-3 overall and 6-2 in league play with today's win while Dowling lost its fifth straight game to fall to 2-11 overall and 2-5 in the ECC.
Playing without the team's second-leading scorer and assist leader - senior point guard Telisha Turner (Criminal Justice – Wilmington, DE/Harcum) - due to an ankle injury, three UDC players stepped up in her absence to score in double-figures, including senior reserve guard Diamonique Carr's (Criminal Justice – Camden, NJ/Harcum) career and game-high 20 points.. Carr scored 18 of her 20 in the second half while shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the field and making 6-of-8 free-throws.
Junior guard Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore (Criminal Justice – Newport News, VA/Denbigh HS) was who keyed the Firebirds' fantastic start, scoring eight points herself in the opening three minutes before the Golden Lions had even got on the scoreboard. She finished with a season-high 19 points and extended her streak of double-figure scoring games to seven.
Also packing the stat sheet and contributing to the resounding Firebirds win were senior forward Denikka Brent (Mechanical Engineering – Chesapeake, VA/Booker T. Washington HS) with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists, junior transfer forward Arielle Ward (Psychology – Springfield, MA/La Salle) with career and game-highs of six steals and six assists, and junior forward Tatyana Calhoun (Architecture – Disputanta, VA/Sussex Central HS) with a game-high seven rebounds.
Dowling, which dressed only seven players and consequently was out-scored 40-0 in bench points, was led by senior guard Christine Verrelle with 19 points and seven rebounds – both team-highs. Verrelle, the 2011-12 ECC Rookie of the Year, is the only marquee player left from the 2012-13 NCAA Division II Tournament Runner-up team coached by retired veteran Joe Pellicane.
Baldwin-Kollore hit two open, spot-up three-pointers from the corner and scored all eight points during an 8-0 run to open the game for UDC as the Firebirds would lead from wire-to-wire. A 9-0 Golden Lions run would bring Dowling within two, 13-11, just past the 12-minute mark after a three-pointer by Verrelle. The Firebirds countered with a 9-0 run of their own, highlighted by two three-pointers by junior transfer forward Iman Soctt (Health Education - Hagerstown, MD/Baltimore City CC), as UDC took a 21-11 lead approaching the nine-minute mark. Still up 28-20 nearing the five-minute mark, UDC embarked on a 10-0 run to take its largest lead of the half, 38-20 with 11 seconds remaining. Dowling's Kamille Ejerta hit a jumper at the buzzer to make it 38-22 at intermission.
Consecutive three-pointers by Verrelle and Andrea Bender to open the second half pulled Dowling within 10 at the 18:48 mark, but a Brent layup kicked off a 25-5 Firebirds run which included six consecutive points by Carr and gave UDC a commanding, 63-33 advantage near the 11-minute mark. Over the next seven minutes, UDC out-scored Dowling 17-7 to extend its lead to 40, and the Firebirds went on to win by its largest margin of victory this season, 38.
Dowling's 48 points was a UDC opponent season-low, and its 35.7-percent FG shooting was a season-low as well. Meanwhile, UDC also forced 25 Golden Lions turnovers and cashed them in for 31 points.
The Firebirds are now in 3rd place in the ECC standings and just one game back of Queens (6-1) in the loss column for 2nd place. They will host league foe St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday, January 22nd at 7 p.m.
BOX SCORE
COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPORTS INFORMATION
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