WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 11, 2012) – NYIT women’s basketball faced its first East Coast Conference loss with a 77-64 final on the road at the University of District of Columbia Wednesday evening. The Bears were paced by sophomore Demitra Apergis (Littleton, Colo.), who scored 15 points.

 

With the loss, the Bears dropped to 9-5 on the season and 3-1 in league play. UDC improved to 11-3 overall and evened at 2-2 in ECC action.

 

Juniors Chloe Johnson (Sea Cliff, N.Y.), Nikki Jo Rotolo (Rome, N.Y.) and Rebecca Lynch (Hillsdale, N.J.) combined for 37 of the Bears points. Johnson tallied 13 points and Rotolo added 12 points, shooting 63% from the field. Lynch registered NYIT’s only double-double of the game with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

 

UDC dominated the field shooting 52% compared to NYIT’s 39%. Yet, the Bears held the edge on free throw shooting and rebounding. NYIT shot 67% from the charity stripe (UDC 59%) and held a 39-33 margin on the boards.

 

After a 7-7 tie at 16:01, NYIT went on a 6-1 run that gave the Bears a 13-8 advantage with 14:33 remaining. Reigning ECC Player of the Week Rotolo knocked down both three-pointers. However the lead was short-lived as UDC compiled a 19-4 spurt that put the Firebirds up 27-1 with 8:32 to play. The Bears fought to cut the gap with a three-pointer by Apergisand a layup from Johnson, but the Firebirds continued to control the scoreboard. A trey by UDC’s Julissa Anderson ended with first half with the Firebirds holding a 38-22 edge over the Bears.

 

Lynch ended the Bears drought in the opening minutes of the second half with a layup, 38-24. The two teams then exchanged baskets but UDC maintained a double-digit advantage. The Firebirds increased their lead to 16 points, 50-34, on a three-pointer by Janelle Junior with 12:03 remaining. Yet, the Bears continued to fight and brought the score within 10 points 65-55 on a jumper by Sabrinna Moore (Flushing, N.Y.) with 4:14 left to play. Free throws by Apergis less than a minute late made it an eight-point game 65-57. That was the closest NYIT would get as a series of layups by Dohnay Banice and a three-pointer by Lauren Brittingham gave UDC back its double-digit edge for the win.

 

For UDC, Brittingham led with a game-high 27 points and Banice tallied a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

 

NYIT returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 14 when it hosts Dowling in ECC action. Tip-off is scheduled for Noon at Recreation Hall.