Hot Shooting Firebirds Surge Past Spartans, 82-72; Win 10th Straight Game

SPARKILL, NY – The University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team defeated East Coast Conference foe St. Thomas Aquinas, 82-72 at Spartan Gymnasium Thursday night.

The Firebirds, who have now won 10 straight games, improved to 12-3 overall and 7-0 in league play which keeps them tied with NYIT for 1^st place in the ECC standings. The Spartans, winners of four of their last five games coming into tonight's contest, fell to 11-5 overall and 4-4 in the ECC with the loss.

Leading UDC offensively were senior sharp-shooter, Tiara Goode, senior guard Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore and senior forward Iman Scott. Goode set a career-high with 21 points, erupting for 11 of those 21 in the 3^rd quarter. She finished 7-of-9 from the field, 5-of-7 from three-point range, and 2-of-2 at the free-throw line, and she hauled in a game-high seven rebounds. Baldwin-Kollore also shot well, particularly from long-range where she was 4-for-4, and the free-throw line, where she was 5-of-6. The ECC's 3^rd leading scorer finished with 21 points as well, plus a game-high eight assists and three steals. Scott poured in 18 points on 7-of-12 FG shooting (2-of-3 from behind-the-arc) and tied for the game-high of seven rebounds.

The Firebirds' 82 points was their 2^nd highest scoring total of the season, and the highest of all games ending in regulation. They shot an impressive 47-percent from the field, a sizzling 57-percent from three-point range, and a solid 84-percent from the free-throw line. UDC also dominated the glass, out-rebounding STAC, 40-29.

The Spartans featured two scorers in double-figures – guard Jenna Erickson with 14 points, and reserve forward Adiya Henderson with 11. Forwards Alyson Brennan and Kaitlyn McCue tied for the team lead with six rebounds apiece.

Scott scored UDC's first seven points of the game to help the Firebirds race out to an early 9-2 advantage, as the Firebirds allowed one tie, 2-2, but never trailed in the game's entirety. Later, Baldwin-Kollore knocked down a three-pointer to double-up the Spartans, 14-7, and just before the two-minute mark, junior transfer Brandi Henton buried a long-range shot to make it 19-14. UDC led 19-15 at the end of the 1^st quarter.

The two teams traded three-pointers in the first two minutes of the 2^nd quarter, as Scott's triple was answered by Erickson's at the 8:17 mark to keep it a four-point disparity. Following a pair of free-throws by UDC junior transfer forward Jenka Stiasna, Erickson nailed another three-pointer to cut the Firebirds' lead to three, 24-21. Stiasna pushed the lead back to five with a jump shot, but four straight points by the Spartans shrank the lead to one, 26-25 with six minutes remaining in the first half.

UDC responded with back-to-back three-pointers by Baldwin-Kollore and Goode, which kick-started a 10-3 run by the Firebirds and increased their lead to 36-28 with 3:26 still to play in the opening half. The Spartans would not go away though, closing out the frame on a 7-0 run to pull within one, 36-35 at intermission.

Goode set the tone for an explosive 3^rd quarter by the Firebirds as she knocked down back-to-back three-pointers in a span of 30 seconds to ignite what amounted to a 19-4 surge over the opening 5:21 of 2^nd half play and take their largest lead of the night, 55-39. Goode would finish the quarter with three three-pointers and 11 points, and Baldwin-Kollore would add seven points as UDC out-scored STAC 22-15 in the 3^rd quarter. The Spartans did, however, close out the 3^rd quarter on an 11-3 run, and they would only trail by eight heading into the 4^th quarter.

Still a nine-point UDC lead after Scott's jumper at the 6:40 mark, STAC's Adiya Henderson scored four straight points to bring the Spartans within five, 64-59. A pivotal three-pointer by Baldwin-Kollore started an 11-2 Firebirds game-clinching run that pushed UDC's lead to an insurmountable, 75-61 with 1:48 left to play. UDC made 5-of-6 from the line to ice the win, as the Firebirds won comfortably by a 10-point margin.

Up next, the Firebirds will host ECC foe Mercy College on Saturday, January 16^th at 4 p.m.