UDC Women's Basketball Season Comes to a Close After Falling to STAC in ECC Tournament Quarterfinals

SPARKHILL, N.Y.- The University of the District of Columbia's women's basketball team saw their season come to a close after being knocked out of the running by St Thomas Aquinas College, in the ECC tournament quarterfinals. The Firebirds fell to the Spartans 63-49, Wednesday night at the packed Aquinas Hall Gymnasium, as their overall record fell to 13-15.

Sophomore guard Latavia Jackson led all scorers with 19 points going 9-17 from the field. Freshman forward Aiyana Ellis, led the Firebird defense pulling a game-high ten boards, four steals, and a block.

UDC got out to a great start, shooting at 51.9% from the field while holding STAC to just 28.1%. The Firebirds outrebounded the Spartans 23-13 and led by as much as 14 points in the second quarter but a plague of turnovers saw the Spartans chip that lead down to seven going into the half.

The visiting Firebirds managed to hold on the lead for the opening minutes of the third quarter, but a three-point play by Sarah Ericson who drew the foul on Destiny Ryles with 5:13 to go, gave the Spartans their first lead of the game 38-36.  They went on a 9-6 run taking a five-point lead into the final stretch. 

UDC fought to bring the game within one point early in the fourth quarter but struggled to get a shot off in the latter, leading to STAC pulling away to secure the 14 point victory and their spot in the ECC semifinals. 

The Firebirds close out the season with a 13-15, 9-10 ECC record. This marked the Firebird's first postseason appearance since 2016 and the first appearance under Head Coach John Nakpodia. 

"We are very happy with the growth our team showed this season," said Coach Nakpodia. " It is not easy integrating 9 new players into a program but our staff and student-athletes embraced the challenge. Even though we were comprised of mainly Freshmen and Sophomores, we never let our youth put a limit on what we could accomplish. We beat our rival Bowie State for the first time since the 2012-2013 season. We also qualified for the ECC Championship for the first time since the 2015-2016 season, and we were the only team that did not play last year due to COVID-19, that qualified. We believe we have a team that can compete in the ECC for years to come and we are very excited for next season."