University of the District of Columbia Women’s Basketball Takes Down Undefeated NYIT, 77-64
WASHINGTON, DC – Senior guard Lauren Brittingham registered game-highs of 27 points and seven assists to lead the University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team to a decisive, 77-64 victory over previously undefeated New York Institute of Technology on Wednesday night at UDC Gym.
With the win, District of Columbia improves to 11-3 on the season and 2-2 in the East Coast Conference. NYIT falls to 9-5 overall and 3-1 in league play.
Brittingham (Washington, DC – Potomac HS), who was inserted into the starting lineup with the team's leading scorer, Jamilia Bonner (Mobile, AL – Williamson HS) still out with an injury, shot 8-for-12 from the field (5-of-6 from three-point range) and converted 6-of-9 from the foul line to notch a season-high point total. She and fellow senior guard Jasmine Rich (seven points, six assists) fed Dohnay Banice (Wilmington, DE – Williamson HS) in the paint often as the senior forward turned in her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Junior guard Janelle Junior (Riverside, CA – La Sierra HS) also pitched in with 12 points and three assists, while Julissa Anderson (Greensboro, NC – Southeast Guilford HS) and Dennika Brent (Chesapeake, VA – Booker T. Washington HS) tallied nine points apiece off the bench.
"I was very pleased with the ladies' effort in the first half, but I think we came out flat in the second half and didn't take good care of the basketball," head coach Lester Butler, Jr. said. "Julissa Anderson and Dennika Brent came off the bench and gave us scoring and rebounding, and Lauren shot the ball extremely well tonight. We need her to continue to play at a high level until we can get Bonner and [Stacy] Griffith back from injuries."
NYIT, which was without its leading scorer and rebounder Cierra Baker (18.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg), featured four scorers in double-figures, led by Demitra Apergis' 15 points. Rebecca Lynch also recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Chloe Johnson struck first for the Bears with a long three-point shot from the corner, and the Bears would control the lead for nearly the first 10 minutes of play. They led by as many as five (13-8) after a three-point field goal by NikkiJo Rotolo at the 14:33 mark, but Junior answered right back with a trey which ignited a 19-4 Firebirds run over the next six minutes and catapulted UDC to a 27-17 advantage. The Bears scored the next five straight points to cut the deficit in half, but the Firebirds closed out the half on an 11-0 surge, culminating in a three by Anderson to put UDC up 38-22 at the intermission.
The Firebirds maintained a double-digit lead in the second half until a 6-0 Bears run pulled NYIT within eight after a pair of free-throws by Apergis at the 3:28 mark. That was as close as the visitors would get the rest of the way, as UDC won by a comfortable margin of 13.
UDC and NYIT, ranked 9th and 11th in the nation for steals per-game, respectively, combined for 57 turnovers tonight, but the Firebirds had one less miscue eight more assists (19-11) as a team for the night. The hosts also shot the ball much better (52-percent to 39-percent) from the field, particularly from behind-the-arc (11-of-19 to 6-of-20).
District of Columbia is back in action on Saturday as they visit East Coast Conference foe University of Bridgeport on Saturday, January 14 at 1:00 p.m. Eli Pearlstein will call play-by-play live over the air courtesy of Stretch Internet. Tune in via www.udcfirebirds.com.