Women's Basketball Tames Anna Maria College, 55-53

Box Score

PAXTON, Mass. - Elms College junior forward Erika Murphy (Torrington, Conn.) scored a team-high 14 points and hauled in a game-best 13 rebounds to help the Blazers secure a 55-53 victory over Anna Maria College in Tuesday evening's non-conference women's basketball game at Fuller Activities Center.

With the win, Elms improves to 2-3 on the season while Anna Maria falls to 2-3 overall.

With Elms lead 52-47 with 5:01 remaining in the contest, Anna Maria's Chelsea Blair (Holland, Mass.) scored a basket underneath to pull the Amcats to within three at 52-49.

Anna Maria then cut the gap to one at the 3:04 mark when Samantha Ashton (Worcester, Mass.) delivered a layup to make the score 52-51.

Murphy put the Blazers back up by three with a layup at the 2:48 mark but 37 seconds later, Blair pulled Anna Maria to within one again at 54-53.

Clinging to its one-point lead Elms' junior guard Katie Condon (Sandy Hook, Conn.) drew an Amcat foul and converted the back end of a pair of free throws with four seconds to play to give Elms a 55-53 advantage. Anna Maria's Alison McCarthy (Lynn, Mass.) attempted a desperation three-pointer but to no avail as the Blazers held on for the two-point victory.

Condon finished with 11 points and four assists in the winning effort, while Murphy added five assists in addition to her 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Freshman guard Emily Boucher (Ashburnham, Mass.) was stellar off the bench for Elms netting nine points, all from three-point range (3 of 5).

Ashton led all scorers with 21 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the field while Blair added 12 points in the losing effort.

McCarthy was a catalyst for the Amcat's offense dishing out eight of the squad's 15 assists on the evening.

In the opening 20 minutes, neither team held more than an eight point advantage as Anna Maria took a 32-26 lead into halftime.

Elms scored 11 of the first 15 points of the second half to reclaim the lead at 37-36 as Condon scored five points during the run capped by a pair of free throws.

The sides played to a 43-43 tie before Elms regained the lead on a mid-range jumper from Murphy at the 10:28 mark and did not relinquish the lead.

Elms returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 4 when it travels to Castleton State College for a 2:00 p.m. non-conference contest.