St. Joseph College (Conn.) Flies Past Women’s Basketball, 102-57

Box Score

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior forward Erika Murphy (Torrington, Conn.) scored a team-high 16 points but St. Joseph College's (Conn.) Diamond Doe (Lynn, Mass.) led all scorers with 18 points and the Blue Jays connected for 13 three-pointers to help seal a convincing 102-57 victory over the Blazers in Wednesday evening's non-conference women's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the loss, Elms falls to 2-5 on the season while St. Joseph improves to 7-2 to match the best start to a season in the program's 18-year history. The Blue Jays also started 7-2 during the 2002-03 campaign.

Elms fired out of the gate as sophomore guard Jen Normandie (Westford, Mass.) and Murphy each scored a layup underneath on the Blazers' first two possessions to post a 4-0 lead 53 seconds into the game, but then Nathalie Mastarreno (Glastonbury, Conn.) drilled a trey at the 18:24 mark and Mary Hyde (Derby, Conn.) converted a layup to give St. Joseph a 5-4 lead at the 18:06 mark of the first half.

Another layup by Normandie put Elms in the lead again but the Blue Jays responded when Ilaria Schiano (Wallingford, Conn.) swished a three-pointer that sparked a 13-2 run that put St. Joseph ahead by 10 (18-8) with 14:11 to play in the opening period.

Elms' freshman guard Marisabel Santiago (Springfield, Mass.) hit a jumper at the top of the key at the 13:51 mark and Murphy converted on a fast break layup off a feed from freshman guard Mariah Petty (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) with 12:59 to play in the first 20 minutes to pull the Blazers to within six at 18-12 but that's as close as they would get as St. Joseph scored 12 straight points to extend its lead to 18 at 30-12 with 9:32 remaining in the half. From there, the Blue Jays maintained at least a 16-point cushion and led by as many as 24 (54-30 with 59 seconds to play) to take a 54-35 lead into halftime.

St. Joseph, which shot a stellar 48.8-percent from the field and 42.9-percent from three-point range, shot a sizzling 56.8-percent from the floor in the second half and a staggering 57.1-percent from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes to help secure its 102-57 victory.

The Blue Jays scored 40 points in the paint and 37 points off 27 Elms turnovers, 24 of which came on a fast break. St. Joseph also received a 50-point effort from its bench as Doe (18 points) and Devon Diliberto (Waterbury, Conn.) combined for 34 of those points to complement four Blue Jays starters in double figures.

Schiano registered 15 points, Adele Ruel (Burlington, Conn.) totaled 12 points, Hyde finished with 11 points and seven rebounds and Mastarreno collected 10 points, four assists and four steals.

Courtney Cesca (Winsted, Conn.) hauled in a game-best 11 rebounds while Doe finished with seven assists and eight steals in the winning effort.

Santiago finished with 12 points off the bench for Elms, while she, Murphy and junior guard Katie Condon (Sandy Hook, Conn.) all notched five boards.

Normandie finished with eight points and a pair of steals, while Murphy was 10 of 10 shooting from the free throw line in the loss.

Elms opens its 2010-11 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) slate with its final game of the 2010 portion of the season on Saturday, Dec. 11. The Blazers host Lesley University at 4:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.