Second Half Surge Sends District of Columbia Past Dowling, 45-43; Four Straight Wins for the Firebirds

OAKDALE, NY – Trailing 25-21 at halftime, the University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team erupted on a 15-2 run over the first seven minutes of second half play and eventually withstood a late Golden Lions comeback to beat Dowling on the road, 45-43 in East Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon.

This win marks the first Firebirds victory over Dowling in five tries since UDC joined the ECC in 2011-12, and helps them keep pace with LIU Post for 1^st place in the league standings with a record of 8-1 (12-3 overall). Dowling, the NCAA Division II runner-up last season, fell to 6-9 overall and 5-5 in the ECC.

Junior forward Denikka Brent (Mechanical Engineering – Chesapeake, VA/Booker T. Washington HS) led all scorers with 20 points to go with a team-high nine rebounds. Junior transfer guard Telisha Turner (Criminal Justice – Wilmington, DE/Harcum), the ECC's leading scorer coming into the game, also added eight points. She now needs just 11 points to reach 1,000 for her career.

Dowling, which was coming off consecutive wins over Daemen (68-44) and Roberts Wesleyan (53-43), was led by senior forward Julia Koppl (11 points, game-high 14 rebounds) and junior guard Christine Verrelle (11 points, six rebounds).

Brent scored UDC's first seven points of the game to help the Firebirds jump out to an early 9-4 lead, but Dowling answered with a 7-0 blitz to pull in front, 11-9 on a jumper by Rekik Worku at the 13:28 mark. UDC forced three ties (11, 13 and 15), but Koppl helped Dowling create some distance by scoring five of the Golden Lions' seven points during a 7-0 surge to push ahead, 22-15 with three minutes left in the first half. The Firebirds countered with two three-pointers right before halftime, one apiece by senior center Milena Bubnjevic (Criminal Justice – Leskovac, Serbia/Longwood) and Turner, and closed to within four (25-21) as the two teams headed to the locker rooms for intermission.

Turner, who scored the final three points of the first half, scored the first five points of the second half, followed by six consecutive points by Brent, all while the Firebirds defense held Dowling scoreless for the first 6:17 of action once play resumed. Sophomore guard Shantrel Oliver (History – Columbia, MD/Chesapeake College) and sophomore forward Tiara Goode (Criminal Justice – Brentwood, NY/Brentwood HS) each added two-point buckets as well during what amounted to a transformative, 15-2 Firebirds surge to start the second half, giving UDC a 36-27 lead.

The Firebirds enjoyed their largest lead of the day (42-32) with 6:22 remaining, but Koppl poured in six points during an 11-2 Golden Lions charge which culminated in a Verrelle three-pointer to make it a one-point game (44-43) with just 35 ticks left. Thanks to 1-of-3 free-throw shooting by UDC in the final 23 seconds of regulation, Dowling had two chances to tie or win the game in regulation, but Koppl and Verrelle combined to miss three shots in the waning seconds as the Firebirds prevailed.

In a game marred by turnovers (25 by Dowling, 21 by UDC), neither team shot well from the field, but the Firebirds had the edge, 35-percent to 31-percent, largely thanks to a 38-percent to 24-percent disparity in the second half.

UDC, which has now won four straight games, will visit ECC foe Mercy on Wednesday, January 30^th at 5:30 p.m.