Women’s Basketball Outlasts Newbury College, 77-69

Box Score

CHICOPE E, Mass.- Elms College senior guard Jessica Jurkowski (Belchertown, Mass.) scored a game high 18 points, and pulled down seven rebounds to help lead the Blazers past Newbury College, 77-69 in Thursday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win the Blazers improved to 4-10 on the season, 3-2 in the NECC, while Newbury dropped to 4-6, 3-3 in the NECC.

The Blazers jumped out to a 43-36 lead at halftime behind 12 points from Jurkowski.

Elms built on its lead early in the second half, and a three pointer by sophomore guard Carolyn Talmadge (Wilbraham, Mass.) gave the Blazers a 50-40 lead with 17:49 to go.

The Nighthawks answered in a hurry when layups by Jalisa Fields (Bronx, N.Y.) and  Catherine O’Connell (Quincy, Mass.) 43 seconds apart cut the Blazers' lead to 50-44.

Elms' sophomore guard Katie Condon (Sandy Hook, Conn.) halted the Nighthawks run with a trey to give the Blazers a nine point lead.

At the 4:46 mark of the second half the Blazers gained their biggest lead of the game as sophomore guard Christina Korney’s (Feeding Hills, Mass.) jumper gave Elms a 71-54 lead.

Trailing by 15 with 3:41 remaining, a 9-2 run by Newbury cut the Blazers' lead to eight, but Elms was able to keep its distance and secure the 77-69 win.

Talmadge finished with nine points and seven assists, while senior forward Erin Hutchinson (Groton, Mass.) scored nine points and grabbed seven boards in the win.

Condon netted 15 points off the bench on 4 of 5 shooting, while freshman guard Jen Normandie (Westford, Mass.), and senior guard Annie Dunnack (Mansfield Center, Conn.) added eight points each.

Newbury senior guard Katelyn Mark (Quincy, Mass.) had a team high 17 points in the losing effort. The Nighthawks also received major contributions from O’Connell who had 15 points and a game-high 17 rebounds, and Fields who chipped in 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Blazers will continue their NECC season on Saturday when they travel to Bennington, V.T. to take on Southern Vermont College. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.