Cheyney, PA – Junior Nytasia Braxton (Camden, NJ, , Southeastern CC) scored a game-high and season-high 21 points, but the Cheyney University women's basketball team could not overcome the depth and three=point shooting of the visiting University of the District of Columbia (UDC) as the Firebirds came away with an 84-66 victory on Saturday afternoon inside Cope Hall.

Cheyney (1-6) made all three of its three-point shot attempts in the first quarter and took a 20-19 advantage after the first 10 minutes, The Firebirds (6-6) behind a 14-point personal run from Halia Ellis including four consecutive three-pointers jumped out to a 47-35 lead at the break.

The Wolves jumped out to a 6-1 lead on a basket from senior JaNya Lilly (Baltimore, MD, , Lincoln University) and four straight points from senior Zinnia Wormack (Delaware County, PA , Universal Audenried Charter School). The Firebirds took the lead 10-8, when sophomore Maciyah Washington (Bowie, MD, , CCBC Essex) connected on back-to-back shots from beyond the arc to give Cheyney a 14-10 edge with 4:05 to play in the first.

The Wolves, who trailed by two-points after each of the first three quarters on Friday afternoon at Wilmington University, found itself down by two again as the quarter was ending, but this time Wormack connected on a three-pointer to give Cheyney the one point 20-19 edge.

The Firebirds opened the second stanza with a three, two free-throws from Braxton tied the game at 22-22, but UDC then took control with a 21-6 run, which included the outburst from Ellis, who led the Firebirds in scoring with 20 points, all coming in the first half.

After the break, UDC built the lead up to as much as 25 points in the third, before the Wolves closed out the quarter with the final eight points.

Washington started the run with a layup, sophomore Sarai Alexander added a layup after an offensive rebound, and senior Lilly closed the quarter with two free-throws and a buzzer beating jumper to make it a 67-50 score after three.

The lead once again was built to 23, 73-50, when Cheyney responded with a 14-2 burst that was started with back to back foul-line jumpers from sophomore Jireh Kelly. A three-point play from Braxton began a personal seven-point run for the junior and a three-pointer from beyond the arc from Lilly made the score 75-64 and prompted a UDC timeout.

The Firebirds scored seven straight and took control again to pull away for the 84-66 win.

Braxton, who made 6-7 free-throw attempts, as part of a game-high 21 points, added five steals and two assists, Lilly finished with 14 points and led Cheyney with six rebounds, Washington closed with 14 points and a team-best thrtee assists Kelly added eight points and five boards and Wormack scored a season-best seven points while pulling down foive boards.

Cheyney is off until Wednesday January 4, 2023 when it welcomes Penn State Lehigh Valley to Cope Hall to begin the new year, with the tipoff scheduled for 5:30 PM.