Firebirds Pick Up First Conference Loss to Redhawks

WASHINGTON, DC.- The University of the District of Columbia's women's basketball team picked up their first conference loss of the season to Roberts Wesleyan, Saturday afternoon at the UDC Gymnasium. With this loss, they fall to 7-6 overall and 3-1 in the conference, while the Redhawks improve to 5-5 overall and 2-2 in league play.

The Firebirds featured four double-figure scorers with Ronnasia Blatch-Huggins leading the way at 16 points. Blatch-Huggins also registered another double-double grabbing a team-high 14 rebounds while packing the stat sheet with six assists and three steals. Ke'Airah Massiah registered a season-high 14 points, knocking down four three-pointers and going 5-11 from the field. Janiya Smith came off the bench to register a career and season-high 12 points shooting at 50% from the field and the free-throw line. Teammate Destiny Ryles also packed the stat sheet grabbing five boards, a game-high eight assists, and three steals.

Both teams were even in the first quarter tied up at 15 points, but a 20-11 run in favor of the RedHawks but the Firebirds in a nine-point deficit going into the half. The second half saw UDC fighting to get back into the game but unfortunately couldn't make up the deficit as RWC pulled away to a 76-63 victory.

UDC (7-6, 3-1 ECC) will host St Thomas Aquinas on Wednesday, January  12 at 5:00 pm. Spectators will not be allowed but the game will be live-streamed on the ECC network.