UDC Women’s Basketball Suffers 75-61 Defeat vs. Roberts Wesleyan

WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team was defeated, 75-61 by Roberts Wesleyan College in East Coast Conference play at the UDC Sports Complex Wednesday night.

The Firebirds have now lost four of their last five as they fell to 2-8 overall and 1-1 in league play with tonight's loss. Roberts Wesleyan, which had lost three of its previous four games, improved to 6-4 overall and 1-2 in the ECC with the win.

UDC was once again led by freshman sensation NyAsia Anderson, who was coming off a school freshman record of 31 points on Monday night. Tonight, she recorded her 3^rd double-double of the season with a team-high 23 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.

Also, senior guard Shantrel Oliver registered 15 points, four assists and three rebounds, and freshman reserve guard Bianca White added nine points, five assists and a game-high four steals.

Roberts Wesleyan featured three double-figure scorers, including a game-high 26 points and eight rebounds by forward Emily Miller. She shot 11-of-16 from the field (2-of-2 from three-point range) and 2-of-2 from the foul line; meanwhile, defensively, she also blocked four shots and came away with one steal. Guard Brooke Fields pitched in with 15 points which included 9-of-11 FT shooting, and guard Lucy Covley recorded a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds to go with three assists.

Fields scored five of her 15 in the opening three minutes of the game to help the Redhawks soar to an early 8-0 lead, but Oliver steered the Firebirds back in the game with two three-pointers in the first period, and UDC trailed by just three, 15-12 at the end of the opening quarter.

The Firebirds would mount a 5-2 run in the first two minutes of the 2^nd quarter and take their first and only lead of the night, 17-16 on a layup by White. The Redhawks would respond, however, with a 17-6 surge over the next 5:40 and take a 33-22 lead with 2:39 left to play before halftime. RWC would ultimately take a 36-27 advantage into intermission.

In the 3^rd quarter, the Redhawks would open up the largest lead of the night, 54-29, as they held the Firebirds without a field goal and out-scored UDC, 18-2 over the first eight minutes of action. UDC would mount an 8-2 run over the final 1:27 of the quarter to make it 56-37 heading into the final period.

Anderson went on to score 10 of her 23 points in the 4^th quarter as UDC out-scored its guests 24-19 in the final period, but it was too little too late as the Redhawks cruised to a 14-point margin of victory.

RWC out-shot UDC 39-percent (26-of-67) to 31-percent (18-of-59) from the field, out-rebounded the Firebirds 47-39, and had five fewer turnovers (15-10). The Firebirds out-shot the Redhawks 33-percent (10-of-30) to 26-percent (8-of-31) and 83-percent (15-of-18) to 71-percent (15-of-21) at the free-throw line, but were more than doubled-up in points in the paint, and allowed eight 2^nd chance points compared to their two.   

Next up, UDC visits league-leading Queens College in Flushing, NY for an ECC battle on Saturday, December 10^th.