BOX SCORE

(BOWIE, Md.) Bowie State University avenged an earlier season loss to the University of the District of Columbia, extinguishing the Firebirds 68-55. 

The lead changed hands five times and the score was tied four times in the first 10 minutes of the BSU Lady Bulldogs and UDC Firebirds rematch. Then Bowie State senior Teaunsha Robinson (Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Polytechnic) scored a layup with 10:20 left in the first half that gave the Lady Bulldogs the lead for good. 

The Lady Bulldogs had a productive first half, scoring on 15 of their 33 field goal attempts, which included three-of-eight behind the three-point line. Bowie State also played good defense, forcing seven Firebird turnovers resulting in 11 Lady Bulldog points. 

The University of the District of Columbia made 11-of-40 first period field goals (28 percent). Of those 40 attempts, 22 were beyond the arc. Unfortunately for the Firebirds, only five of those triple attempts found their mark, sending Bowie State into halftime with a 35-28 advantage. 

Bowie State extended its lead to 46-35 by the 14:46 mark of the second half following a jumper by senior Chanita Jordan (Philadelphia, PA, University City, North Carolina State). However, the visiting Firebirds stormed back with a 14-4 run to narrow the deficit to 50-49 with 9:13 remaining in the game. 

At this point, the Lady Bulldogs defense clamped down on the Firebirds again, closing out the game with an 18-6 run. 

UDC continued jacking up three's in the second half, but had even less success than the first half, making three-of-18 from long range. As a team, the Firebirds made 22-of-79 field goals (28 percent), eight-of-40 from deep and three-of-seven from the free throw line. 

The Firebirds (15-8) were led by Jamilia Bonner with 15 points and Kendra Johnson along with Dohnay Banice added 14 and 10 points respectively. 

Bowie State (16-8) was led by senior Lakisha Walker (Baltimore, MD, St. Frances Academy) with 13 points to go along with nine rebounds. Jordan scored a dozen points and grabbed nine rebounds and junior Juliette Turner (Atlanta, GA, John F. Kennedy) notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. 

In terms of Lady Bulldogs team totals, Bowie State ended the game with a shooting percentage of 40 percent on 25-of-62 from the field and 14-of-23 from the free throw line (61 percent). 

Bowie State travels to Virginia State for a key CIAA Northern Division contest – Saturday (February 19th) with tip-time set for 1:30 pm.