District of Columbia Hosts Bridgeport for Military Appreciation Night

2012-13 University of the District of Columbia Women's Basketball Game Notes

Bridgeport (12-6, 7-3 ECC) at District of Columbia (7-12, 2-7 ECC)

Wednesday, January 30^th – UDC Gym (Washington, DC)

Opening Tip-Off

The Firebirds will host the University of Bridgeport Purple Knights this Wednesday night for its first-ever Military Appreciation Night event. The University of the District of Columbia will honor our nation's wounded heroes during the game. In partnership with Wounded Warrior Project and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), the UDC athletic department has invited local Wounded Warriors to participate in a special halftime presentation. Any active military or veterans also receive free admission to the game with a valid military ID. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. Follow Live Stats and Live Video.

About Wounded Warrior Project

The mission of WWP is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. It is a non-profit organization with the vision to foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation's history. Over 48,000 service members have been physically wounded during the current military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands more are estimated to be recovering from invisible wounds of war, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression and traumatic brain injury (TBI). For more information on WWP, please visit woundedwarriorproject.org.

 Updating the Firebirds

The Firebirds have struggled of late, losing seven of their last eight games, including their last two. Both of District of Columbia's losses last week could easily have gone the other way, but head coach Lester Butler, Jr.'s young squad has not played well in the waning moments of close games all season long. Sophomore guard Denikka Brent (Mechanical Engineering – Chesapeake, VA/Booker T. Washington HS), who had played in a reserve role almost the entire season, has thrived as a starter for the Firebirds over the last five games. She has carried District of Columbia offensively, scoring in double-figures in all five of those games and earning two consecutive East Coast Conference honor roll mentions along the way.

Scouting Bridgeport

The Purple Knights currently sit at 3^rd place in the ECC standings having won six of their last seven games, including their last four. They most recently knocked off LIU Post, 72-66 on Saturday.  Bridgeport is led by the trio of Tanisha Carter, Priscilla Dodoo and Aziza Patterson. Carter, a six-foot center and pre-season ECC player of the year, averages 17.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per-game. Dodoo is a 5-11 swing player who averages 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per-game. Patterson does a little bit of everything, averaging 13.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per-game.  The three combine for nearly 70-percent of the team's scoring.

The Matchup

Bridgeport blitzed the Firebirds right at the start the last time these two teams met back on December 8^th (a 58-43 Bridgeport win). The host Purple Knights charged out to 17-0 run while holding District of Columbia scoreless for nearly the first nine minutes of play. The Firebirds have typically been a slow-starting team all season long, but certainly cannot afford to fall behind like that again. District of Columbia will also need to take better control of the ball as the Firebirds committed 23 turnovers which the Purple Knights cashed in for 25 points. Bridgeport comes in ranked No. 19 in the nation in turnover margin (5.61).