UDC Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore Reaches 1,000 Career Points; Firebirds Earn Blowout Win vs. Dowling, 86-50;

Senior guard Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore became the 5th UDC women's
basketball student-athlete to reach 1,000 career points.

WASHINGTON, D.C.  –  Senior guard Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore led all scorers with 26 points en-route to a lopsided, 86-50 victory for the University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team vs. East Coast Conference foe Dowling College Wednesday night at UDC Sports Complex.
 

With her 26-point scoring effort, Baldwin-Kollore became the 5^th UDC women's basketball student-athlete to reach the 1,000-point career milestone, and just the 3^rd to have done so entirely as a Firebird. Tonight's win saw UDC improve to 17-6 overall and remain 2^nd in the ECC standings at 12-3. Dowling, which has now lost 13 straight, fell to 2-19 overall and 2-13 in league play.

 

Baldwin-Kollore, who also tied for the game-high with six assists and had a team-high two steals, was aided by senior forward Iman Scott (11 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals) and junior transfer guard Brandi Henton (10 points, six assists, five rebounds), as well as a near double-double by senior reserve forward Tatyana Calhoun (nine points, game-high nine rebounds).

 

Dowling was led by the ECC's top scorer, Krstina Surlan, who registered 19 points, five rebounds and a game-high four steals. Forward Kaelan Ward hauled in a team-high eight rebounds.

 

The Firebirds out-shot their guests 52-percent to 31-percent from the field, and 38-percent to 24-percent from long-range, and they had a decisive, 47-30 rebounding advantage. UDC's 13 offensive rebounds (four of which were by Calhoun) led to 21 2^nd chance points, and a 34-16 points advantage in the paint.

 

UDC also took much better control of the ball with 17 assists and 13 turnovers, while holding Dowling to eight assists and using a suffocating press to force 16 turnovers. The Firebirds cashed in for 26 points off of Golden Lions turnovers on the night.

 

Team depth also played a factor as UDC had eight substitutes at its disposal and its bench out-scored Dowling's, 35-10.

 

Kaelen Ward's jump shot two minutes into the action in the first quarter gave Dowling its 2^nd and last lead of the night, 5-4, as Scott put the Firebirds ahead to stay with a layup at the 7:04 mark. An 8-2 run by UDC, capped by a Baldwin-Kollore three-pointer at 4:55, had UDC up 14-7. Surlan then scored five straight points to make it 14-12, but the Firebirds answered with an 11-2 surge, highlighted by a three-pointer each by Henton and senior forward Tiara Goode. The Firebirds would lead 25-21 at the end of the first quarter.

 

In the second quarter, UDC's defense held Dowling to just two points on 1-of-16 FG shooting (0-for-9 from behind-the-arc) and six turnovers. The Firebirds, led by Baldwin-Kollore's eight points and freshman guard Ryonna Marshall's five, scored 17 in the period, and led 42-23 at halftime. The Golden Lions' two points is the lowest point total allowed by the Firebirds in a quarter this season.

 

UDC kept its foot on the gas in the 3^rd quarter, out-scoring Dowling, 14-5 over the first six minutes to double-up the Golden Lions, 56-28. The Firebirds would take a 63-37 advantage heading into the 4^th quarter.

 

Baldwin-Kollore and Henton each knocked down a pair of three-pointers in a little over three minutes of action to start the 4^th quarter during a 15-4 tear by the Firebirds that saw their lead swell to its largest of the night, 78-41.

 

With 2:16 remaining in her 2^nd to last regular season home game at UDC, Baldwin-Kollore made the 1^st of two free-throws for her 1,000^th career point to make it 83-49, and the Firebirds would cruise to a 36-point victory – their largest margin this season.

 

Next up, UDC will visit ECC foe University of Bridgeport on Saturday, February 13^th at 1 p.m.

BOX SCORE

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPORTS INFORMATION