Virginia State Sends UDC Home with a 61-53 Defeat
Ettrick, VA: February 3, 2008—Although freshman forward Lillian McGill (Sumter, SC) grabbed a career and team high 18 rebounds, and got 12 points for her 10th double-double of the season, it was not enough, alone, to get the win, as the University of the District of Columbia Lady Firebirds fell to the Virginia State University Lady Trojans, 61-53, this afternoon in Ettrick, Virginia. VSU’s Eugenia Carson had a double-double of her own, with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Trojans to the win.
VSU started the game with a quick 8-2 run, and continued to open a 13 point lead with 58 seconds remaining in the first half, and then stretched it to 31-18 before sophomore Nicole Cooper (Ft. Washington, MD) drained a 3-pointer with 21 seconds remaining, to end the half at 31-21. UDC shot only 30% (7-23) in the first half, while VSU put the points up at a 50% (12-24) clip to carry the lead into the break.
UDC opened the 2nd half with a series of misses before senior Eniola Bakare (Staten Island, NY) made a lay-up to start the scoring for the half. But VSU took advantage of the missed shots to extend the lead to 40-23 with 14:15 remaining in the game, and their bench made the difference in the game as they scored 23 points to UDC’s 5.
VSU got the ball in low to score 34 points in the paint, while UDC struggled, getting only 18 points in the paint. UDC only managed to tie the score once, which was very early in the game, and trailed the rest of the way.
UDC shot a miserly 29% (15-52) for the game, while VSU made 40% (18-45) of their two point shots. VSU also made 80% (24-30) of their free throws to UDC’s 56% (19-34).
Three Lady Firebirds were in double figures, including McGill, Bakare with 13 to lead the UDC scoring, and junior Devaughn Hailey (Camden, NJ) had 11 points. Carson was the only VSU player to reach double figures, but 7 of her teammates contributed to the scoring effort.
With this loss, UDC falls to 13-6, while VSU improves to 9-11, defeating them for the second time this season.
UDC returns to the hardwood on February 5, hosting the Columbia Union College Lady Pioneers at 5:30 p.m.