Dec. 30, 2011

Box Score

Sophomore Senior G Lauren Brittingham scored a game-high 22 points and dished five assists to lead the University of the District of Columbia over UMass Lowell, 71-65, Friday in the C.W. Post Winter Classic at the Pratt Recreation Center.

With the loss, UMass Lowell slipped to 4-7 overall entering Tuesday night’s home clash with American International College (5:30). UDC improved to 9-2.

Junior G Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn.) led UMass Lowell with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Sophomore G Danielle DePierro (Tewksbury, Mass.) came off the bench to score 17 points while junior G Erika Sjoberg (Stockholm, Sweden) chipped in 10 points and four rebounds.

Senior F Sha’Nay Bushner (Akron, Ohio) grabbed 12 rebounds in addition to seven points and four steals.

Senior G Jamilia Bonner added 19 points and five rebounds for UDC while senior F Stacy Griffith chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Firebirds shot .443 for the game and particularly found the mark in the second half, shooting .500 (13-26). UMass Lowell struggled to a .338 clip, including .382 for the second half.

UMass Lowell trailed 62-59 with when Sjoberg hit a layup with 4:12 remaining. The River Hawks, however, committed four turnovers and misfired on its next three field goal attempts while UDC scored eight straight points to post a 70-59 cushion with 20 seconds left.

UDC led at the half 35-29 and opened the second half with a 9-1 spurt – led by consecutive jumpers by senior F Stacy Griffith – to post a 44-30 cushion with 17:32 remaining.

Trailing 51-35 with 15:30 left, UMass Lowell found its touch and went on an 18-3 run to knot the score at 53-53 with 8:15 left to play. Simmons led the run with eight points while DePierro and Bushner each chipped in four points.

“We were down by 16 and we tied it, but we just couldn’t get it done,” said head coach Sarah Behn. “We tried hard and the comeback was good though. We hustled and executed during that stretch.

“We just kept letting them penetrate,” she added. “Defensively, we need to get to where we were before the break. These were two good teams, unlike NE-10 teams. We had our hands full with their speed.”