Team Depth Keys District of Columbia Women’s Basketball’s 70-57 Win Over Florida Southern in Firebird Classic

WASHINGTON, DC – Eleven of the 12 players dressed for the Firebirds entered the scoring column as the University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team used a 29-12 advantage in bench points to defeat Florida Southern College, 70-57 in the final game of the Firebird Classic on Sunday afternoon.

The Firebirds (2-3), who rebounded nicely from a tough, 73-67 loss the previous day to Grand Valley State, were also able to take much better care of the basketball with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 16-to-13 compared to FSC's 17-to-24.

Senior guard Janelle Junior (Administration of Justice – Riverside, CA/San Bernadino Valley College) led District of Columbia with 16 points while also adding five rebounds and four steals. Junior transfer point guard Teara Shaw (Health Education - Bronx, NY/Indian River St.) also had a big day with 12 points, a game-high seven assists and four steals.

Sophomore guard Denikka Brent (Mechanical Engineering – Chesapeake, VA/Booker T. Washington HS), fresh off her career-high 28-point performance yesterday, led a very productive Firebird bench with 10 points. Sophomore center Britenique Harrison (Accounting – Nassau, Bahamas/St. Augustine's College HS)also came off the bench and added a career-high eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field as well.

The Moccasins (0-3) were led offensively by three scorers in double-figures, including a game-high 18 points (8-of-16 FG, 2-of-3 FT) by Kirstin McIntyre. Mariah Harris and Tracy Fosterling also added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Florida Southern connected on its first two three-point attempts of the day to grab an early 7-2 lead a little over a minute into the action. The Firebirds went on to score 15 of the game's next 22 points to take a 17-14 advantage just past the 11-minute mark, but back came the Moccasins with a 5-0 run to pull in front again, 19-17 with a little over eight minutes left in the first frame.

Still trailing 23-21 with 6:24 left in the opening half, Junior drew a foul on a three-point attempt from the corner and earned a trip to the line to shoot three free-throws. She sank all three to spark what amounted to an 11-1 Firebirds surge that propelled District of Columbia to a 32-24 lead that it would never fully relinquish the rest of the game. Later, McIntyre knocked down a jumper for FSC at the buzzer to cut the Firebirds lead to six, 34-28 as both teams headed to the locker rooms for halftime.

District of Columbia out-scored Florida Southern 16-6 over the first 9:41 to open up a 50-34 lead. Brent and Junior each scored four points during that stretch to give the Firebirds a 16-point cushion. District of Columbia led by as many as 17 after a three-pointer by junior reserve guard Julissa Anderson (Criminal Justice – Greensboro, NC/Southeast Guilford HS) at the 7:25 mark, but the Moccasins fought back to out-score the Firebirds 15-7 over the next 5:26 and cut the deficit to just nine, 66-57, with just under a minute left in regulation. Shaw and Junior combined to make 4-of-5 from the line in that final minute of regulation to send the Firebirds to a comfortable, 70-57 victory.

The Firebirds have 10 days off before their next game at St. Augustine's on November 28^th at 5:30 p.m.