Firebirds Soar to 5th Straight Win at Molloy

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY – The University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team earned its fifth consecutive double-digit victory Wednesday night as the Firebirds defeated Molloy, 71-60 in East Coast Conference action at Quealy Gym.

UDC, tied for No. 5 in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll released on Monday, improved to 11-2 overall and 4-1 in ECC play with tonight's win. The Firebirds have won eight of their last nine games, with their last loss coming on December 10^th.

Senior forward Denikka Brent (Mechanical Engineering – Chesapeake, VA/Booker T. Washington) continued her offensive tear with her sixth consecutive double-figure scoring performance as she led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-14 FG shooting while also hauling in eight rebounds and collecting four steals.

Brent's counterpart was senior point guard Telisha Turner (Criminal Justice – Wilmington, DE/Harcum) who packed the stat sheet with 21 points, eight rebounds, four steals and four assists.

Also contributing for UDC were junior guards Shantrel Oliver (Criminal Justice – Columbia, MD/Chesapeake CC) with 11 points and a career-high five steals and Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore (Criminal Justice – Newport News, VA/Denbigh HS) with 10 points. Junior forward Tatyana Calhoun (Architecture – Disputanta, VA/ Sussex Central HS) pitched in with a game-high 10 rebounds as well.

Molloy (5-7, 1-4 ECC) was led by three double-figure scorers, including a team-high 17 points by reserve forward Kimani Jackson. Guards Alexia O'Connor and Ally Leftridge added 10 points apiece as well. The Lions have now dropped two straight games after upsetting the No. 10 ranked team in the country, the University of Tampa at the Florida Southern Terrace Hotel Classic back on December 20^th.

Consecutive jumpers by Oliver helped the Firebirds race out to an early 15-5 lead near the 16-minute mark in the first half. Molloy cut the deficit to three, however, as Leftridge's fast-break layup capped a 7-0 Lions run to make it 15-12. The Firebirds still only led 19-17 past the nine-minute mark, but a 14-4 surge highlighted by a Baldwin-Kollore three-pointer and five points by Turner helped UDC take its largest lead of the opening period, 33-21, with four minutes remaining. The Firebirds would head to halftime up 35-25.

The Lions opened the second half on a 5-0 run as O'Connor's layup helped Molloy pull within five (35-30), but four consecutive buckets by Brent and a three-pointer each by Oliver and Turner contributed to a 15-2 blitz by the Firebirds to put UDC ahead, 50-32 just before the 14-minute mrk.

The Firebirds lead ballooned at 20 (62-42) after a free-throw by Calhoun, and UDC would go on to win comfortably by 11.

Next up, UDC will visit ECC foe Queens on Saturday, January 10^th at 1:30 p.m. The Knights are currently atop the league standings with a league record of 4-0 and are ranked No. 9 in the East Region.