UDC Suffers First Lost of the New Year Loses 76-50

Sparkhill, NY – The University of the District of Columbia women's basketball team was defeated, 76-50 by St. Thomas Aquinas, in East Coast Conference play Wednesday Night in Sparkhill, NY.

St. Thomas Aquinas (11-2) winners of 8 of their last 9 even level with the firebirds before ending the quarter on a 16-3 run.

UDC (4-8), came into the game off the heels of a win vs No. 8 Virginia State University. The Firebirds struggled in the first quarter scoring only 9 points. Senior guard Mia-Alexis Lloyd carried the team in the first quarter shooting 3-of-6 from the field scoring 7 points. She would finish the game with a team-high 13 points and 2 rebounds.

In the Second quarter, Senior Guard Natasha Roy led the Firebirds in the second quarter by effectively getting to the line and making the most of her opportunities going 4-of-6 from the line.

The Spartans were led by Kellyann Averill who finished the quarter with 10 points 5-5 from the field.

UDC defense became a spark plug in the  2nd half as the Firebirds held the Spartans to 27 points and just 3-of-18 from the field in the 4th quarter. Senior center Patricia Albert finished her first game of 2019 with a game-high 11 rebounds to go with 7 points.

Poor shooting slowed the Firebirds all day long, as UDC shot just 34-percent from the field and 0-percent from long range, and St.Thomas Aquinas, meanwhile, shot 44-percent from the field and 25-percent from behind-the-arc.

The East Region rivals traded halves with St.Thomas Aquinas performing better in the first half and UDC performing better in the second half.

The Firebirds will return home for non-conference action on January 5th to host Adelphi University. Tip-off is at 1 p.m.