District of Columbia Offense Sputters in 58-39 Loss at Queens

FLUSHING, NY – The Firebirds women's basketball team could never find any offensive rhythm as it was defeated by East Coast Conference foe Queens College, 58-39 at Fitzgerald Gym on Wednesday night.

With the loss, District of Columbia is now mathematically out of the six-team ECC playoff chase with a record of 3-13 (8-18 overall). Queens improved to 7-8 (10-12 overall) and remains in the hunt.

Freshman forward Tatyana Calhoun (Environmental Science – Disputanta, VA/Sussex Central HS) was close to a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds, and freshman guard Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore (Public Health – Newport News, VA/Denbigh HS) also registered eight points to lead the Firebirds offensively. Senior guard Janelle Junior (Administration of Justice – Riverside, CA/La Sierra HS) added seven points – all of which came in the 2^nd half.

Queens was led by forwards Catherine Pastor and Kristen Korzevinski and the ECC's top-scorer, Bria Jackson. Pastor (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Jackson (11 points, 10 rebounds) both collected double-doubles while Korzevinski added 11 points. Reserve Marie Byrnes also added eight points and 10 boards.

Baldwin-Kollore scored the first points of the game on a layup 17 seconds in, but that would be the Firebirds only lead of the night. Queens raced out to leads of 6-2, 10-6 and 12-9, but District of Columbia managed to stay in striking distance until just past the mid-point of the first half. Trailing 12-11 after a layup by Calhoun, the Firebirds went on a 6:34 scoring drought that saw the Knights pull ahead, 20-11. District of Columbia shot a dreadful 21-percent from the field (1-for-4 from three-point range) and missed all four of its free-throw attempts in the opening period as the Firebirds fell behind 25-15 at intermission.

The Knights effectively put the game out of reach with a 10-2 run to start the second half which gave them a 35-17 advantage at the 16-minute mark. The Firebirds never got any closer than 14 from that point on, as Queens coasted to a 19-point victory.

Cold shooting hampered the Firebirds all night as they shot just 24-percent (16-of-68) from the field, 25-percent (4-of-16) from three-point range and 33-percent (3-of-9) from the foul line. Meanwhile, Queens shot 45-percent (25-of-56) from the field, 31-percent (4-of-13) from long-range, and 57-percent (4-of-7) from the free-throw line. The Knights also held a 49-38 rebounding advantage and outscored District of Columbia 34-16 in the paint.

Next up for the Firebirds is another ECC road game vs. Molloy on Saturday afternoon. District of Columbia will look to complete the season sweep of the Lions and break a five-game losing skid.