University of the District of Columbia Women’s Basketball Pulls Off a Huge Win Over #18 Ranked Holy Family 72-56, Firebirds Open the Season 4-0
Philadelphia, PA – The University of the District of Columbia Women's Basketball Team traveled to Philadelphia, PA tonight, and they come home with a statement win on the road. The Firebirds, who have played 3 games in 4 days on the road, used an up-tempo pace to overwhelm the #18 ranked Tigers 75-56. UDC is off to a terrific start as they advance to 4-0, while Holy Family falls to 2-2 on the year.
The Firebirds had three players in double figures on the night and used a balanced offensive attack throughout the contest. Senior guard Lauren Brittingham (Washington, DC – Oxon Hill/Potomac High School) led UDC with 19 points on the night on 7-13 shooting. Brittingham also paced the defense with 5 steals. Senior forward Stacy Griffith (Fredericksburg, VA – Riverbend HS) had a monster game with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Senior guard Jamilia Bonner (Mobile, AL – Williamson HS) had 12 points for the Firebirds. Senior captain forward Dohnay Banice (Wilmington, DE - Williamson HS) also provided a major contribution with 11 rebounds for the Firebirds.
The Game started out as expected, and it remained close through the entire first half. Neither team could muster much of an advantage in the early goings, and Holy Family held the edge at the half 38-36. Over the first 10 minutes of the second half the game remained tight, but the Firebirds began to establish an edge holding a 51-47 advantage at the 10:43 mark. The last ten minutes of the game belonged to UDC as they established and held on to the upper hand, closing out the game 72-56.
UDC Head Coach Lester "Jay" Butler had this to say about the win, "This is a big win for our program. To spend as much time on the road recently as we have, and to come up here and get the win…speaks volumes about the heart and character of this team. Dohnay [Banice] and Stacey [Griffith] did an excellent job on the boards tonight and on defense. This is a great team win for us."
The Firebirds get a few days respite over Thanksgiving and then return to action on December 3rd at home against Virginia Union at 2:00 PM.