Firebirds Suffer 78-50 Defeat at Home Versus No. 17 Nova Southeastern

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team was defeated by No. 17 Nova Southeastern, 78-50 on Tuesday night in a non-region contest at UDC Gym.

The Firebirds (4-5) were led offensively by freshman forward Tatyana Calhoun (Environmental Science – Disputanta, VA/Sussex Central HS), who registered a season-high 15 points to go with nine rebounds. Freshman guard Tajruba Balwin-Kollore (Public Health – Newport News, VA/Denbigh HS) also notched her second straight double-figure scoring game with 10 points while also adding two steals.

The Sharks (6-1), who came into the game averaging a NCAA Division II 2^nd best 89.0 points per-game and were tops in D2 with a +38.7 scoring margin, were held to 11 points below their average on the night, but still managed to win by a sizable margin. Sophomore guard Danielle Robinson led all scorers with 21 points while adding five rebounds and three steals. Also, junior guard Amanda Burakoski came off the bench to record 20 points and seven rebounds. Commanding the offense was junior point guard Jessica Russi, who handed out 11 assists to go with just five turnovers.

Taylor Buie helped Nova Southeastern jump out to a 15-4 lead with two three-pointers in the opening five minutes of action, and the Sharks never looked back. Trailing 17-6 nearing the 12-minute mark, the Firebirds mounted a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to six, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way. NSU would blow the game open with four consecutive three-pointers – two apiece by Robinson and Burakoski – and in a matter of 2:31, the Sharks had grown their lead to 18. Nova Southeastern would take a 17-point margin into halftime.

District of Columbia tried to fight its way back into the game as the Firebirds outscored the Sharks 8-2 in the opening 2:06 of the second frame to cut the NSU lead to 11, 41-30. But the Sharks answered right back with a 10-1 surge to go up 51-31 just before the 12-minute mark. Nova Southeastern would later use an 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 78-49 at the 1:17 mark, and the Sharks would go on to win by a final score of 78-50.

Up next, the Firebirds host East Coast Conference newcomer Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday, December 15^th at 3 p.m. University of the District of Columbia will be sponsoring a High School Day event - see details.