Firebirds Roll, 79-61 to Sweep Molloy and Earn 10th Straight Win

WASHINGTON, DC – The Firebirds led wire-to-wire as they earned their 10^th straight victory, 79-61 over Molloy in East Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon in the nation's capital.

UDC, which entered the week ranked No. 4 in the D2SIDA East Region poll and No. 1 in the ECC standings, improved to 21-3 overall and 14-2 in the ECC with the victory – its 8^th straight win at the UDC Sports Complex. Meanwhile, Molloy had its two-game win-streak snapped as the Lions fell to 10-12 overall and 6-9 in league play.

Star senior forward Denikka Brent (Mechanical Engineering – Chesapeake, VA/Booker T. Washington HS) once again led the Firebirds with a super all-around effort, registering team-highs of 19 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals. Brent shot 7-of-11 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 at the free-throw line.

While Brent did much of her work in the paint, the Firebirds also featured terrific outside shooting, particularly by junior guard Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore (Criminal Justice – Newport News, VA/Denbigh HS) and Telisha Turner (Criminal Justice – Wilmington, DE/Harcum). Badlwin-Kollore shot 6-of-14 from the field (5-of-9 from three-point range) to score 19 points, while also contributing three steals defensively. Turner made 5-of-10 FG and 4-of-4 FT while also handing out a team-high five assists.

The Lions were led by Ally Leftridge, who scored a game-high 21 points on 6-of-12 FG shooting and 7-of-10 FT. Forward Nicole Arnone also contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.

Both teams struggled with offensive efficiency as the two ECC foes combined for 51 turnovers (Molloy 26, UDC 25), but the Firebirds had a decisive shooting edge that carried them to victory. UDC shot 27-of-57 (47-percent) from the field and 11-of-22 (50-percent) from three-point range on the day while Molloy shot 18-of-51 (35-percent) from the field and 4-of-18 (22-percent) from long range. The Firebirds also converted a higher-percentage of their free-throws – 78-percent (14-of-18), compared to 66-percent (21-of-32).

Brent kicked off the scoring for the day with a jumper from the elbow and then blocked a Molloy shot at the other end. The resulting UDC possession led to a three-pointer by Baldwin-Kollore – assisted by Brent – and the Firebirds were off and running, up 5-0 less than two minutes in. The visiting Lions answered with seven of the game's next nine points, closing within two, 9-7 just past the 15-minute mark on a layup by Allison Smith. At that point, UDC rattled off the next nine straight points courtesy o f back-to-back three-pointers by Baldwin-Kollore and senior guard ShaKena Williams (Accounting – Washington, DC/Frederick CC) and a conventional three-point play by Turner and they went on to out-score Molloy, 17-2 over the next six minutes to take a commanding, 26-9 lead with 7:40 to play in the first half.

The Firebirds, who out-shot Molloy 50-percent to 25-percent in the first half, would double-up the Lions on the scoreboard as well, 40-20 as the two teams headed for intermission.

Still a 20-point game a little over three-minutes into the second half, Molloy closed to within 16 (47-31) after consecutive buckets by Leftridge and Smith, but that was as close as the Lions would get the rest of the way. The Firebirds used a 19-4 run to extend their lead to 63-35 around the nine-minute mark, and they coasted to their 14^th double-digit victory this season.