AMHERST, N.Y. – Senior Denikka Brent (Chesapeake, Va.) totaled 18 points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks to lead the University of the District of Columbia to an 86-62 victory over Daemen College here tonight in East Coast Conference women's basketball action.
 
UDC, which entered the game ranked fourth in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll, ran its winning streak to seven-straight games and improved to 18-3 overall and moved into a tie with Queens College atop the ECC standings (11-2). Daemen saw its losing streak move to five-straight games and dropped to 8-11 overall and 5-8 in the league.
 
Sophomore Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) drilled three three-pointers and totaled 17 points and eight rebounds for Daemen, while freshman Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) also netted 17 points and added four rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Senior Shy Britton (Rochester, N.Y./Niagara University) chipped in seven points, six rebounds and two blocks. Junior Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) drilled two three-pointers and finished with six points, and in the process became the 22nd player in program history to score 1,000 career points. She entered the game five points shy of the milestone.
 
Senior ShaKena Williams (Washington, D.C.) helped the UDC cause with six three-pointers and 20 points, while junior Tajruba Baldwin-Kollore (Newport News, Va.) added 13 points and seven boards.
 
The teams traded baskets early on and the game was tied at 7-7 five minutes in when a three-pointer by Baldwin-Kollore sparked the Firebirds on a 10-0 spurt. Daemen cut the lead in half with a three-pointer by Saba and a jumper by Galus, but UDC then put together an 18-7 run to take control. A layup by junior Iman Scott (Hagerstown, Md.) with just over five minutes left in the half capped the run and gave the visitors a 35-19 lead. Daemen outscored the Firebirds 10-4 the rest of the half and UDC took a 39-29 lead into the break.
 
UDC outcored the Wildcats 12-6 over the first five minutes of the second half, and the visitors later took a 59-39 lead following a step-back three-pointer by senior Telisha Turner (Wilmington, Del.) with 12:37 left to play. Daemen came no closer than 15 points (66-51) the rest of the way.
 
UDC shot 47-percent (34-72) from the field overall and canned 10-of-22 three-pointers. Daemen shot 43-percent (23-53) from the field and made 7-of-22 three-point attempts Turnovers were a key statistics in the game. Daemen turned the ball over 23 times (compared to just 10 for the Firebirds) and UDC finished with a 28-8 advantage in points off turnovers. The visitors also posted a 30-16 edge in points in the paint.
 
Daemen is idle until next weekend when it travels to Dowling College (Feb. 13) and the University of Bridgeport (Feb. 14) for ECC games.
 
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