Christian Arnold
The LIU Post Pioneers women’s basketball team fell to the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds 75-72 on Saturday afternoon down in the nation’s capital.
Junior guard Ashley Caggiano led the Lady Pioneers in scoring with 18 points. Meanwhile, senior guard Felicia Joyner contributed 15 points of her own along with an assist and a steal. As a team, the Pioneers shot 46 percent (28-69) from the field and 33 percent (9-27) from three-point range.
To open the game, the Firebirds jumped ahead 11-7 off buckets from senior forward Dohnay Banice and junior guard Janelle Junior. From there, the Firebirds did not look back, ending the first half of play with a 38-30 lead over the Lady Pioneers.
Joyner led LIU Post with eight points in the half, but the team turned the ball over 13 times.
Late in the second half, the Pioneers managed to work their way back into the game. Caggiano made a layup with 1:02 left in the game to cut it to an eight-point lead. Junior forward Nicolette Marciniak was fouled and made the two free throws to cut it to a 75-68 Firebirds lead. Sophomore guard Kenyatta Sears hit a three-pointer with 23 seconds left in the game to make it 75-72.
On the ensuing possession, Joyner turned the ball over on an inbounds pass with seven seconds left, but the Firebirds’ senior guard Jasmine Rich stepped out of bounds and gave the ball right back to the Pioneers. The Pioneers, given new life, tried to set up a play but were unsuccessful in putting up a tying shot attempt. With one second left, Joyner threw up a last second shot: a two-pointer that did not go in.
Firebirds’ senior point guard Lauren Brittingham could not be stopped all day, filling up the box score in several categories. Brittingham finished with 23 points, four rebounds, seven assists, and seven steals. In addition, Brittingham was perfect from the charity stripe, nailing all of her nine attempts. The Firebirds’ Dohnay Banice also had a strong game, playing great defense down low and finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The loss moves the Lady Pioneers to 13-6 and 5-3 in conference play. Prior to the loss, the Lady Pioneers had won five straight. Their next game will be on the road against Dowling College on Saturday, January 28th, at 1 p.m.
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