UDC Women’s Basketball Dealt 76-69 Defeat at Home vs. Cross Town Rival Bowie State

WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team was defeated, 76-69 by visiting Bowie State University in non-regional action Tuesday night at the UDC Sports Complex.

The Firebirds (2-10) were led by senior guard Shantrel Oliver, who registered a game-high 23 points on 8-of-17 FG shooting and 5-of-7 FT shooting. Reigning East Coast Conference Rookie of the Week NyAsia Anderson also contributed 17 points, six rebounds and three assists, and freshman guard Bianca White added 14 points as well.

Bowie State (9-2), which won its 6^th straight game, put four scorers in double-figures, including a team-best 20 points by guard Kyah Proctor. Her backcourt mate Kiara Colston also had a big night with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, and forward Pere Alexander pitched in 14 points and six rebounds. Reserve Kyaja Williams played 30 minutes off the bench and recorded the game's only double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

UDC fell behind 5-0 early following an Alexander three-pointer for BSU, but Oliver led the Firebirds on an 11-2 march with five points during the 3:18 stretch, and the Firebirds took what would be their largest lead of the night, 11-7 at the 5:45 mark in the 1^st quarter. The Bulldogs would force two tie at 11 and 14, but UDC would not trail again until the 2:34 mark when Denver Clyde's three-pointer put the visitors ahead to stay, 17-16. Kiara Colston's three-pointer with seven seconds remaining gave BSU a 22-18 advantage at the quarter's end.

In the 2^nd quarter, the Bulldogs opened on a 6-0 run to open up the game's first double-digit lead, 28-18 a little over two minutes in. The Firebirds countered with a 9-0 run, as Anderson, Oliver and junior transfer guard Kaiya Coleman each connected on a long-range shot to close the gap back down to four, 31-27. Bowie State would out-score UDC 6-4 in the final 4:45 though, and the Bulldogs would take a 37-31 lead into halftime.

Again the beginning of the quarter belonged to BSU as the Bulldogs started the 3^rd period on a 9-4 spurt and extended their lead once more to 10, 45-35. Bowie State would go on to take a 55-49 advantage into the final quarter.

The Firebirds would pull within four twice in the first two minutes of the 4^th quarter, the first time on a layup by junior center Amber Bryson, and the second time on a jump shot by Anderson at 8:52. The Bulldogs would respond following Anderson's shot, however, with seven straight points to push their lead to 11, 64-53 at the 6:41 mark. BSU would lead by as many as 12 at the 1:56 mark, and the Bulldogs would go on to win by a seven-point margin.

UDC out-shot Bowie State, 49-percent (23-of-47) to 38-percent (20-of-53) from the field, but the Bulldogs made out much better at the foul line, sinking 29-of-35 (83-percent) compared to UDC's 14-of-22 (64-percent). BSU also held a 38-25 rebounding advantage which enabled the Bulldogs to more than double-up the Firebirds, 16-7 in 2^nd chance points and out-score their hosts, 22-16 in the paint.

Next up, the Firebirds return to East Coast Conference play as they host St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday, December 17^th at 3 p.m.