BUFFALO, N.Y. – The D'Youville University women's basketball team coasted to a dominant 61-40 victory over the University of the District of Columbia on Friday night at the Saints Center.
 
Senior Sofie Fuglsang (Oberanven, Luxembourg) led the DYU offense with a career-high 24 points on 6-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc and added five rebounds and two steals on the defensive end. Freshman Aliviya Vallone Russell (Buffalo, N.Y.) also drilled six three-pointers to record a career-high 18 points and recorded five rebounds. Freshman Allie Hall (Rochester, N.Y.) was a beast on the boards for the Saints, grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds and recording two blocks.
 
DYU came out of the gate on fire, as Fuglsang knocked down a three-pointer and Vallone Russell connected on two three-pointers of her own to give the Saints an 11-0 lead. Senior Anna Jankovic (Averill Park, N.Y.) cashed in from beyond the arc to extend DYU's lead to 14-2 with 3:21 remaining in the first quarter. The Firebirds scored five consecutive points to close out the quarter, but the Saints still held a 14-7 advantage heading into the second quarter.
 
The District of Columbia cut DYU's lead to 14-11 early in the second quarter, but Fuglsang knocked down back-to-back threes to put a stop to the run and bring the Saints' lead back up to nine. Redshirt sophomore Megan Fedor (Elmira, N.Y.) converted a layup to make it 23-13 D'Youville with 3:34 remaining in the second quarter. A pair of layups from Hall increased the lead to 27-13 with just over a minute to go until halftime. The Saints went into halftime leading 27-16.
 
A mid-range jumper and a three-pointer from Fuglsang put DYU back ahead by fourteen early in the third quarter. Eight-straight points from UDC shrunk the Saints' lead down to six, but Vallone Russell buried a triple to put them back ahead by nine with 3:17 remaining in the quarter. Vallone Russell knocked down another three-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter and DYU went ahead 38-31 heading into the final frame.
 
The Saints began the fourth quarter on an 11-3 run sparked by a pair of three-pointers from Fuglsang and a close-range jumper from junior Morgan Giancaterino (Orchard Park, N.Y.), and DYU found themselves ahead by fifteen. After the Firebirds pulled within eleven with four minutes left to play, the Saints closed out the game on a 10-0 run fueled by a layup from Giancaterino and two three-pointers from Vallone Russell.
 
With the win, D'Youville improves to 5-13 and 3-6 in the ECC. They will be back in action on Sunday when they host the College of Staten Island at the Saints Center at 1:00 p.m.