Firebirds Fumble First Half Lead to Saints; Falls 64-59

WASHINGTON, D.C.- The University of the District of Columbia's women's basketball team fell 64-59 in their second round of ECC matchup against D'Youcille College. The Firebirds fell to 10-11, 6-6 in league play while the Saints improved to 9-9, 4-8 in the conference.

Kensley Benjamin went 8-13, and 4-6 from behind the arc to lead the Firebirds with another season-high 21 points while adding three steals. Tori Williams grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds while adding nine points and a block. Ronnasia Blatch-Huggins also packed the stat sheet with 10 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three steals, and three blocks.

UDC was on fire in the first quarter shooting at 53.3% from the field with Benjamin accounting for 11 of 22 points, going 3-3 from behind the arc. Despite cooling down a bit in the second quarter the home team still managed to take a 38-27 lead into the half.

It was a tale of two halves as the Saints ousted the Firebirds in the third quarter outscoring them 20-9. UDC, plagued by turnovers, couldn't seem to get a basket to fall as they fell to 18.8% shooting from the field.

The visiting Saints would take their first lead of the game going into the final stretch. The Firebirds had multiple players in foul trouble leading to double bonus for D'Youville, giving Sara Pfeiffer 15 of her 24 game-high points.

With 13 seconds to go, Janiya Smith managed to bring the Firebirds within three points of the Saints after knocking down 1-2 from the foul line. Pfeiffer would however seal the win for D'Youville knocking down two free throws of her own.

UDC (10-11, 6-6 ECC) will host Bridgeport in the first round of a double-header on Wednesday with a tip-off time of 5:00 pm. UDC Athletics is not allowing spectators, but the game will be live-streamed on the ECC network.