Team Effort Propels Firebirds to 74-65 Win at Mercy

WHITE PLAINS, NY – Senior forward Tatyana Calhoun led five Firebird scorers in double-figures with a double-double performance of 14 points and 14 rebounds as the University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team won its third straight, 74-65 at East Coast Conference foe Mercy College at Westchester County Center Thursday night.

With the win, the Firebirds complete the season sweep of the Mavericks and improve to 19-6 overall. They remain 2^nd in the conference standings at 14-3. Mercy lost its eighth straight to fall to 6-19 overall and 3-14 in league play.

Calhoun played 27 minutes off the bench and shot 4-of-7 from the field and made six free-throws. Eleven of her season and game-high 14 rebounds came on the offensive glass, as UDC combined for 37 offensive rebounds and 24 2nd-chance points as a team.

Other key contributors for the Firebirds were senior guard Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore with her 23^rd double-figure scoring game of the season of 12 points to go with nine rebounds and five assists, senior reserve guard Myla Somerville with a career-high 12 points in 12 minutes off the bench, senior forward Iman Scott with 12 points and six rebounds, and senior forward Tiara Goode with 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Mercy was led by starting guard Chi-La Bady, who registered a game-high 23 points on 7-of-17 FG shooting and 7-of-9 FT, and also dished out a team-high five assists. Forwards Latisha Clark and Monet Keane-Dawes each added 10 points as well.

Points were tough to come by for the Firebirds as they were out-shot 39-percent to 31-percent from the field, 44-percent to 21-percent from three-point range, and 87-percent to 64-percent at the free-throw line. UDC more than doubled-up the Mavericks in rebounds, 64-31, however, as the Firebirds had 21 more FG attempts and more than double as many free-throw attempts (33-18). UDC's depth proved a big advantage as well as the Firebirds' bench out-scored Mercy's 29-5.

Goode knocked down a three-pointer 16 seconds into the game as the Firebirds raced out to first quarter leads of 7-0 and 15-8. Clark scored four of Mercy's final six points as the Mavericks closed the period on a 6-0 run to pull within one, 15-14.

Mercy forced the game's first tie nearly three minutes into the 2^nd quarter as Bady buried a three-pointer to knot the score at 19. Nearly a minute later, Paxton Reddington knocked down a three-pointer as well and gave the Mavericks their first lead of the game, 22-19. Trailing 24-21, Goode's 2^nd three-pointer of the night kicked off a 10-0 run by the Firebirds, culminating in a Calhoun layup just past the three-minute mark to put UDC up 31-24.

But following a Mercy timeout, the Mavericks answered right back with an 11-0 run in a little over two minutes to take a 35-31 lead. Baldwin-Kollore then connected on a long-range shot just under a minute, and Goode made her 3^rd triple of the night at the halftime buzzer as UDC closed on a 6-1 run and took a 37-36 lead into intermission.

Despite Goode's buzzer-beater, Mercy looked to have the momentum as play resumed in the 2^nd half with the Mavericks opening on a 7-2 tear. Reddington's 2^nd three-pointer of the night tied Mercy's largest lead of the night, 43-39 with 6:38 to play in the 3^rd quarter.

Later, following a near three-minute drought, Somerville was the driving force behind a 14-0 Firebirds burst over the next three minutes of play. She kicked off the run with a layup and added five total points as senior guard Arielle Ward put on the finishing touches with a layup at the 29-second mark to put UDC up 10, 53-43. The Firebirds would lead 53-45 at the end of the quarter after Mercy's Clark made a jump shot at the 14-second mark.

In the fourth quarter, eight straight points by Bady allowed Mercy to pull within three, 66-63 near the two-minute mark. A clutch jumper by Iman Scott pushed the Firebirds' lead back up to five, and UDC sealed the victory with 6-of-6 FT shooting down the stretch.

Next up, the Firebirds will host ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas on Sunday, February 21^st. The game will be nationally televised by the American Sports Network and streamed nationally by the NCAA.