District of Columbia Women’s Basketball Falls to Caldwell, 77-64 in Season Opener

SPARKILL, NY – The University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team dropped its season-opener against Caldwell, 77-64 in the first round of the ECC/CACC Challenge hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Firebirds (0-1) shot just 36-percent from the field compared to Caldwell's blistering 49-percent, and they were decidedly outrebounded, 48-31. Freshman guard Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore (Public Health – Newport News, VA/Denbigh HS) impressed in her Firebird debut as she registered a team-high 12 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Also, senior guard Janelle Junior (Administration of Justice – Riverside, CA/La Sierra HS) knocked down a team-best three three-pointers as she finished with 11 points and four assists.

Caldwell (1-0), of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, was led by three scorers in double-figures, including Jeanette Anderson's double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds. Torey Jones added 18 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Emily Caswell pitched in with 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench. The Cougars out-scored District of Columbia 32-26 in the paint and turned 18 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points.

District of Columbia scored the first three points of the game and led 9-6 near the 16:30 mark after a layup by junior center Monet Nias (Criminology – Glen Burnie, MD/Old Mill HS), but five straight points by Anderson led to an 11-9 Cougar lead nearing the 15-minute mark. Junior forward Robin Keke's (Biology – Bowie, MD/Bowie HS) jumper knotted the score at 11, but Caswell's layup at the 14:05 mark gave Caldwell the lead for good. Leading 17-15, Caldwell took control of the game with a 12-2 run over the next 3:16 to go up 29-17. Anderson scored 10 of those 12 points.The Cougars maintained a double-digit lead for most of the remainder of the first half before the Firebirds went on a mini-surge to end the half and closed the deficit to seven (38-31) at intermission.

Jessica Coscia converted a layup for the first points of the second half and extended Caldwell's lead to nine, but a layup by Nias followed by a three-pointer by sophomore Denikka Brent (Mechanical Engineering - Chesapeake, VA/Booker T. Washington HS) suddenly brought the Firebirds within four, 40-36 just before the 18-minute mark.

Still trailing 44-39 just past the 16-minute mark, District of Columbia let Caldwell on a 14-3 run that catapulted the Cougars to a 16-point lead, 58-42 with just under 11 minutes to play in regulation. That lead swelled to as many as 20 before the Firebirds closed out the final 3:30 on an 11-4 run to close the gap to 13 for the game's final score of 77-64.

The Firebirds will look to bounce back as they take on another CACC team in Goldey-Beacom College tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Lightning (1-0) defeated St. Thomas Aquinas, 58-51 earlier this evening in their first game of the season.