UDC
- Jan 11, 2023
- 6 min read
District of Columbia Firebirds (7-7, 2-1) vs. D'Youville Saints (2-8, 1-3)
Friday, January 6, 2023 @ 7:30 PM
Washington, DC
Dr. Edwin Bancroft Henderson Sports Complex
THE SCHOOL
The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically Black university in Washington, DC. UDC is the only public university in the District. In the fall semester, they had 3,577 students.
UDC has a complex history. The Normal School for Colored Girls was founded in 1851, while the white teachers' school started in 1873. These remained separate institutions until Brown v. Board of Education, when they merged to become the District of Columbia Teachers College. In 1966, Congress chartered two new public colleges in DC, Federal City College and the Washington Technical Institute. However, in 1976, the city council voted to consolidate the three schools into one central university, the University of the District of Columbia. Therefore, UDC claims three separate founding dates: 1851, 1966, and 1976.
The Firebirds (great name!) compete in the East Coast Conference (ECC) in NCAA Division II. UDC is a geographic outlier in the nine-team ECC; all the other schools are located in New York, with five members in the New York City metropolitan area, two in Buffalo, and one in Rochester. The Firebirds are well over 200 miles from any conference foe, which is a huge travel burden for an East Coast D-II school.
D'Youville University (known as D'Youville College until last February) is a private Catholic university in Buffalo, New York. The Saints also compete in the ECC, though they are currently reclassifying from Division III and are ineligible for postseason competition. This is D'Youville's first basketball game since the blizzard that hit Buffalo around Christmas.
THE TOWN
UDC is located in the Van Ness neighborhood, along Connecticut Avenue. The stretch of Connecticut across from the university mostly consists of restaurants and luxury apartments. Right behind campus is International Court, the home of the Pakistani, Nigerian, Malaysian, Bruneian, Egyptian, Emirati, Austrian, and Slovakian embassies, which I think is cool.
The appropriately named Van Ness-UDC metro station is just off campus. It's about a 20 minute train ride from Union Station, so it was a pretty quick trip for me.
The student center at UDC -- the building in the photo toward the top of the page -- is a really impressive structure. Other than that, it's a lot of concrete. Campus isn't exactly classically gorgeous, but it gets the job done. It's also a small campus; smushed into just 23 acres, there isn't much room for anything extraneous. On a Friday evening, I was one of the very few people out and about.
The Dr. Edwin Bancroft Henderson Sports Complex has been around since the school's 1976 creation (though the name is new). To be honest, there isn't much that's special about the place. It isn't exactly inviting -- when approaching the front doors, I couldn't tell if the lights were on. When you do enter, you reach a dimly-lit lobby with four vending machines and a trophy case. Seating in the gym consists of two tall sets of bleachers on each sideline and there are video boards on each baseline. Offices wrap around the second level of the gym.
There are probably better D-II basketball arenas. It's a little run-down, a little outdated. Again, there isn't much that's special. Except for one thing:
This is one of the nicest public restrooms I have ever been in. Seriously, I nominate this for "Best Bathroom in All of College Basketball." I don't know what kind of rock this is on the counters but it's very pretty and very smooth. The urinals are tucked around the corner, giving one more privacy than the average men's room. In contrast with the lobby outside, the lighting in here is perfect. I even remember it being a degree or two cooler than the rest of the complex, though I might be making that up.
I have no idea why this restroom is the way it is. The rest of the building is fine, but this? This is a masterpiece. It must have been a renovation at some point, but why did they make it so nice? It sticks out. If you're designing a building, do you really want the bathroom to be the part that sticks out?
I went into this room three times. I didn't even have to pee the second time. I just needed to make sure it was real.
THE GAME
The Sports Complex is only about five minutes from the metro stop. Admission to this men's and women's doubleheader was free, so the only money I spent in the complex was for a bottled water and M&Ms.
When a team doesn't have a pep band, they'll play a recording of the National Anthem before the game starts. Most will play a very simple instrumental version of the song. They may all play the same one, because they all sound very alike. Not UDC, though. The Firebirds play Whitney Houston at the 1991 Super Bowl. You know what, it was different, so I appreciate the variety.
UDC also has the gnarliest buzzer I've heard. You've heard a basketball buzzer. Imagine what it sounds like. Now imagine the buzzer has something stuck in its throat. It was a deep, grumbly GRRRRRRRR that was several levels too loud. Everyone else seemed to be used to it, but I got startled each time.
The rest of my pregame comments will be taken from this photograph I took during the men's game:
1) Up top: As you can see on the banner, the UDC men's team won the D-II national championship in 1982, shortly after the school started up. They've been largely irrelevant since.
2) In the middle: This is a very nice video board. It does not fit with the vibe of the rest of the gym.
3) At the bottom: You see the three people standing under the LED board? That is every member of the Firebird cheer team. I think they're the smallest cheer team I've seen, and they were fantastic. In a D-I game, there are lots of ways to stay entertained during game breaks. There'll be a pep band, an emcee, a DJ, some contests, and whatever extra traditions that team has. At a place like UDC, it's a Spotify playlist and these three cheerleaders. The guy did backflips across the court about six times between the two games and all three of them got more applause than either basketball team, so I guess they did their jobs well.
~~
After a 97-79 win by the UDC men's team, the women took the floor.
It was slooow start. No one scored for nearly three minutes, until UDC's #1, Tori Williams, did so. It took D'Youville over five minutes to get a zero off the board, but the Firebirds didn't take advantage and only led 8-5 after the first quarter. There was very, very bad offense.
It wasn't much better in the second, though UDC's #2, Destiny Ryles, played well. She made back-to-back jumpers with 6:16 left to give the Firebirds a 16-10 lead. However, UDC went ice cold for for the rest of the quarter, missing their last thirteen shots. This allowed the Saints to get back into it and, shortly before the halftime buzzer, D'Youville's #33, Sofie Fugelsang, hit a three from the wing to give the Saints an 18-16 lead at the break.
It's not like the Firebirds were taking bad shots, but everything rimmed out. Additionally, there were six jump balls in the half, which is a lot.
There was a faster start in the third quarter as D'Youville's point guard, Stella Mollica (#3), controlled the pace. Mollica suavely dictated the Saints' offense as she found open lanes and unguarded teammates. If I were coach, I would have told her to shoot more, because her jump shot was falling. Also, her mom sat right behind me.
D'Youville led 27-20 with 6:20 left in the third quarter, but it was the Firebirds' opportunity for a run, as Destiny Ryles led the charge with five straight points. The Saints remained efficient on offense, though, and D'Youville led going into the fourth quarter, 35-31.
The Firebirds got it down to a 1-point deficit, 37-36 with 6:00 remaining, but everything fell apart. D'Youville scored 6 unanswered points to lead 43-36 with 4:29 left, and UDC was clearly playing frustrated. They went nearly five full minutes without a basket and Ryles fouled out, effectively ending their chances. UDC's #3, Latavia Jackson, made some late baskets, but it was too late as D'Youville walked away with a 50-44 upset victory.
Williams, Ryles, and Jackson scored 40 of UDC's 44 points, as all other players combined to go 2-19 from the field. Yikes.
For D'Youville, Mollica scored 18 points while playing all 40 minutes. #10, Anna Jankovic, added 9 points and 16 rebounds.
Final: D'Youville 50, District of Columbia 44
If I ever see a nicer bathroom, I'll let you know.
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