UDC Women's Basketball Falls to Staten Island in Upset as their Season Comes to a Close

WASHINGTON, DC- The University of the District of Columbia's women's basketball team fell to the College of Staten Island, in the first round of the ECC Championships, Wednesday night at the E.B. Henderson Sports Complex. The Firebirds fell to 15-13, 10-7 in conference play, while the Dolphins improved to 11-18, 7-10 ECC, and will advance to the semi-finals on Saturday, where they will take on the No.1 seeded, Daemen University.

Latavia Jackson and Destiny Ryles combioned for 44 of the Firebirds 73 points. Jackson also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, while dishing out five assists, five steals and a block.Tori Williams was the only other double-figure scorer with 14 points, nine rebounds and a game-high three blocks.

The Firebirds opened the first four minutes of play with an 11-0 run, ending the first quarter with a 22-14 lead. The second quarter saw the Dolphins outscore the home team 18-7 to take a one point lead into the half. 

The Dolphins went to score a season high 53 points in the second half, as the Firebird defense was unable to slow them down. Jenalyse Alarcon erupted for 34 of the Dolphins 84 points.

UDC was held to just 34.7% shooting from the field while CSI shot at 43.8%. The Firebirds had the edge on rebounds pulling down 47 compared to the Dolphins 41.

Despite an unfortunate end, UDC has much to be proud of. They ended the season with a 15-13 record, their first over .500 season since the 2015-16 season. They were one of only three teams to defeat defending Champions, Daemen University. They were a complete force at home going 8-3, and 7-2 in conference play. They defeated Roberts Wesleyan for the first time since the 2015-16 season, and was the first win over the program under Head Coach Nakpodia.

Jackson and Ryles were named to the the ECC First-Team and are the first Firebirds to receive this honor since Tajruna Baldwin-Kollore back in the 2015-16 season.

"Even though we didn't get to end the season the way we wanted, we are still very proud of the year we had," said Head Coach John Nakpodia. "We had a winning record for the first time since the 15-16 season, beat every team in the conference this year, lead the conference in scoring and had two players make 1st Team All-Conference. We took a big step forward this season and we are excited for our future."