Firebirds Hold Off LIU Post in Defensive Struggle, 57-53; Reach 20 Wins in Season Finale

BROOKVILLE, NY – The University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team defeated LIU Post, 57-53 in both East Coast Conference foes' regular season finale Saturday afternoon at Pratt Recreation Center.

With the victory, UDC improved to 20-8 overall and 15-5 in league play. The win assures the Firebirds at least a No. 3 seed in the ECC Championship Tournament after a Roberts Wesleyan loss at Molloy today. UDC will be the No. 2 seed with a Queens loss to Daemen tomorrow afternoon, and a No. 3 seed if Queens wins.

Senior guard Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore led three Firebird scorers in double-figures with a game-high 16 points. She also pitched in five rebounds, four assists and one steal. Junior transfer guard Brandi Henton, who's jump shot at 1:07 broke a 51-all tie and put UDC ahead to stay, scored 12 points while also registering six rebounds, three assists and a game-high three steals. Senior forward Tiara Goode also added 11 points.

The Pioneers (5-23, 5-15 ECC) were led by a double-double effort from forward Melsha Messam, who registered 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Also, Janaysia James came off the bench to register 14 points and seven rebounds. LIU Post concluded its season with a sixth straight loss.

UDC was the slightly better shooting team at 32-percent to 29-percent from the field and 22-percent (6-of-27) to 19-percent (4-of-21) from long range. The Firebirds were also the more efficient offense with three more assists (13-10) and three fewer turnovers (17-14).

The Pioneers had a 49-46 rebounding edge, out-scored UDC, 22-16 in the paint and 11-8 in second-chance points, and their bench out-performed the Firebirds' in point production, 29-6.

Goode scored five early points to help UDC race out to a 9-3 lead in the first six minutes of action, but LIU Post scored the next eight straight points during an 11-2 run, and led 14-11 on a Jalyn Brown three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining. Goode answered with her second three-pointer of the game in the final 10 seconds of the period to force a 14-all tie at the end of the first quarter.

In the 2^nd quarter, the Firebirds defense held the Pioneers to just four points on 2-of-19 shooting from the field (0-for-7 long range) and five turnovers. Meanwhile, Baldwin-Kollore out-scored the Pioneers by herself with five of UDC's 11 points in the quarter, and UDC took a 25-18 lead heading into halftime.

LIU Post came out strong to start the 3^rd quarter, opening on a 10-4 run that culminated in a Messam layup to cut the Firebirds' lead to two, 30-28. UDC responded with six straight points, pushing its lead back up to eight after a jumper by senior forward Iman Scott at the 3:24 mark. The Pioneers, however, were able to end the quarter with momentum on their side as they marched out to a 9-2 run and closed within one, 38-37.

Just 16 seconds into the 4^th quarter, LIU Post grabbed its first lead of the game, 39-38, on a jump shot by Kyla Formey. Baldwin-Kollore gave UDC the lead back, 41-39 with a three-pointer after a three-minute scoring drought on both sides, but the Pioneers countered with four straight points by Kalinka Deroche, and once again, led 43-41 with 5:46 to play.

The Firebirds responded with a 7-0 run and claimed their largest lead of the quarter, 48-43, with 3:38 remaining, but back came the Pioneers with five straight points, tying the score at 48 with 2:44 left in the game on a three-pointer by Quanisha Ratley.

Three-point shooting had been a struggle for both teams all day, but in a span of 44 seconds, the two teams combined for three makes from behind-the-arc. Ratley's shot at 2:44 was the first, with UDC's Henton knocking one down at 2:28 only to have Khea Gibbs bury her only triple of the day at the 2-minute mark to force the game's seventh and final tie at 51.

But Henton came through for the Firebirds once more, knocking down her jumper at 1:07 to spark a 6-2 game-clinching run for UDC down the stretch. The Firebirds went on to make 4-of-4 at the line to seal the four-point victory.

UDC has now won the last five meetings between these two ECC schools, including back-to-back season sweeps in 2014-15 and 2015-16.