Lady Firebirds Welcome Lady Builders to Washington, Then Dismantle Them 64-48

Washington, DC: February 18, 2008—The Apprentice School Lady Builders paid their first visit to the University of the District of Columbia tonight to play the Lady Firebirds in basketball. Unfortunately, for them, UDC did a little dismantling instead of allowing the Builders to do much building. UDC also celebrated the completion of the collegiate basketball careers of four senior players during “Senior Night” festivities.Lady Firebird seniors Ashley Alexander, Eniola Bakare, Sylvia Kemp and Robin Williams played in their final regular season home game tonight.

Sophomore point guard Nicole Cooper (Fort Washington, MD) paced the Lady Firebirds to a 64-48 win over the Lady Builders, scoring 13 points, collecting seven rebounds, dishing out two assists and making two steals. She was joined in double figures by freshman forward Lillian McGill (Sumter, SC) who scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season. Senior Ashley Alexander (Washington, DC) added 11 points and senior Eniola Bakare (Staten Island, NY) contributed 10 points to the win.

The teams tallied a combined 45 turnovers as each capitalized on them with UDC getting 26 turnover points and Apprentice 21. The first half saw the score tied three times before UDC took a 34-25 lead into the break on 31 % (10 for 32) field goal shooting.

The Lady Firebirds took firm control of the game during the second half, building a 19-point lead with 2:45 remaining in the game before finishing ahead 16 points. Tyisha Battle was the only Lady Builder to reach double figures, as she tallied 19 points.

UDC shot 34% (21-62) of the game in two point field goals, 24% (6 for 25) behind the arc and made 70% (16 for 23) shots at the charity stripe. With this win, UDC improves to 18-7 for the season while Apprentice drops to 10-12.

UDC will finish the regular season on February 21 at Edinboro University, then return home to host the National Women’s Independent Schools Basketball Tournament, February 23-26. Eight NCAA Division II Independent Schools will participate in the Tournament.