Forced Turnovers the Catalyst in Firebirds’, 76-67 Non-Conference Win vs. So. Connecticut St.

NEW HAVEN, CT – The Firebirds forced 25 Southern Connecticut St. turnovers and turned them into 31 points en-route to a 76-67 non-conference road win Saturday afternoon at Moore Field House.

UDC (5-1) was led by reserve graduate guard Bria White (Homeland Security – Silver Spring, MD/UMBC) and senior forward Denikka Brent (Mechanical Engineering – Chesapeake, VA/Booker T. Washington HS). White led all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-14 FG shooting (3-of-7 from long range) while adding six rebounds and two steals. Brent, who came into the game ranked No. 8 in the nation in steals per-game, had five take-aways and a blocked shot to go with 20 points and six rebounds.

SCSU (1-4), which was coming off its first win of the season in its Northeast-10 season opener vs. Pace on Tuesday night, was led offensively by reserve guard Maria Weselyj, who shot 6-of-8 from three-point range (7-of-11 FG) to score a team-high 20 points. Starting forwards Jackie Beathea and Danielle Powell each registered double-doubles as well, with Beathea posting 15 points and 10 rebounds and Powell 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Owls shot 10-of-22 (46-percent) from three-point range, more than doubling-up the Firebirds in three-point field goals, and they out-rebounded UDC 43-37; however, 25 SCSU turnovers resulted in 31 points for the Firebirds, who out-shot their hosts 46-percent to 40-percent from the field overall and only turned it over 13 times.

In the first half, five consecutive points by White helped UDC jump out to a 17-8 lead almost halfway through the first stanza. After White's second three-pointer of the day at the 9:14 mark, UDC still led 20-13, but Chandler Williams connected on three consecutive three-point field goal attempts to help put the Owls in front, 24-22 courtesy of an 11-2 surge over a three-minute span. The Firebirds responded with a 7-0 run, culminating in a Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore (Criminal Justice – Newport News, VA/Denbigh HS) jump shot, and reclaimed the lead, 29-24 with under four minutes to play in the first half. The lead changed hands four more times before the Firebirds ended the half on a 5-0 run, with White knocking down a three-pointer for the final points of the half to send UDC to a 37-33 advantage at intermission.

The Firebirds extended their lead to eight with the first four points of the second half, but were then held scoreless for nearly four minutes of play while SCSU went on a 10-0 run to take a 43-41 lead near the 15-minute mark. Later, with the score knotted at 45, Weselyj buried a three-pointer to give the Owls their largest lead of the day, 48-45, with just under 13 minutes left in regulation. Brent and freshman forward Mia Wynn (English – Bear, DE/Hodgson Vo-Tech HS) would then steer the Firebirds in control of the game, combining for 11 points during a 13-1 Firebirds run that catapulted UDC in front, 58-49 with under eight minutes left.

Weselyj brought Owls back into the game by nailing three consecutive three-pointers during a 9-3 SCSU run to pull within 61-58 near the six-minute mark, but Brent and White essentially put the game away, helping UDC on an 8-2 run to extend its lead to 69-60 with 3:15 to play. The Firebirds led by as many as 11 (74-63 at the 1:34 mark) and went on to win by a nine-point margin.

Next up, the Firebirds take on another Northeast-10 school in American International College on Monday, December 1^st. Tip-off from Springfield, MA is at 5:30 p.m.