University of the District of Columbia Women’s Basketball Opens Up the Season with a Win over Chestnut Hill College
Washington, DC – The University of the District of Columbia Women's Basketball Team opened up the 2011-2012 season with a victory today against Chestnut Hill College at home in the UDC Gym in front of more than 300 fans. The Basketball double-header today was not only the beginning of the basketball season, but it also kicked off the beginning of UDC 's Homecoming week festivities.
The Firebirds started off strong, opening up the game on a 10-0 run. After only one bucket by the Griffins, UDC then rattled off another 8 points in a row to take a 18-2 lead. While the Griffins were able to close the gap a little bit, the Firebirds still kept the pressure on, closing out the half with a 43-21 lead. The second half was more of the same as UDC proved to be too much for Chestnut Hill. The Firebirds maintained their dominance throughout the second half, winning the game 86-51.
The Firebirds had several key performances on the day. Senior point guard and captain Jasmine Rich (Willingboro, New Jersey - Willingboro HS) had six assists on the day. Junior guard Janelle Junior (Riverside, CA – La Sierra HS) scored 17 points and had four steals on the day. Junior was 7-9 on field goals and 3-4 from the three point arc. Senior guard Jamilia Bonner (Mobile, AL - Williamson HS) was 40% from three point range, scoring 14 points to go along with four steals. Transfer senior guard Lauren Brittingham (Washington, DC- Oxon Hill/Potomac High School) scored 11 points off the bench for the Firebirds, while senior forward Dohnay Banice (Wilmington, DE - Williamson HS) had eight points and nine rebounds. The Firebirds were 10-24 from three point range (41.7%). Chestnut Hill couldn't get much going as they shot 30% on the day and 50% from the free throw line.
UDC Head Coach Lester "Jay" Butler has this to say about the home opener, "It was good to start out the season with a win. We played pretty well in most facets of the game today. We shot the ball fairly well, and I think we played hard. For the most part, we played pretty well on defense. It is a good start, but it's just the start. We are looking forward to keeping it going."
The Firebirds open up the season 1-0 while Chestnut Hill falls to 0-1. UDC returns to action next Saturday, November 19th against Goldey-Beacom College at the AIC Classic.