Balanced Effort Lifts Women’s Basketball To 76-65 Win Over Newbury College

Box Score

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior forward Erica Murphy (Torrington, Conn.) netted a game-high 22 points and hauled in 11 rebounds to lift the Blazers to a 76-65 win over Newbury College in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game.

With the win, Elms snaps its five-game losing skid to improve to 7-13 overall, 5-6 in NECC play, while Newbury falls to 8-13 on the season, 6-6 in league play.

With the score tied at 5-5 4:22 into the first period, Elms' junior guard Katie Condon (Sandy Hook, Conn.) converted a layup that sparked a 14-4 run by the Blazers over the next  4:16 and give Elms the lead for good. Murphy netted six points, while freshman guard Ellen Donohue (Southington, Conn.) swished a trey and sophomore guard Jen Normandie (Westford, Conn.) hit a pair of free throws to give the Blazers a 19-9 lead with 11:22 remaining in the first half.

Trailing 34-24 with 5:39 to play in the opening period, Newbury scored eight unanswered points, highlighted by a three-pointer from Nicole Silvia (Berkley, Mass.) to pull the Nighthawks to within two at 34-32 at the 1:32 mark, but a strike from three-point range from freshman guard Taylor Darby (Bristol, Conn.) allowed Elms to score seven of the next nine points and post a 41-34 lead at intermission.

Trailing 65-56 with 7:16 to play in the game, Newbury rallied with an 8-2 run over the next 2:30, capped by a layup by Jalisa Field (Bronx, N.Y.) to pull the Nighthawks to within three at 67-64 with 4:46 remaining in the game. From there, a layup by Murphy 13 seconds later, a trey by Donohue at the 2:47 mark, and two free throws apiece from Murphy and Donohue with under 40 seconds to play gave the Blazers a 76-65 victory.

Murphy hit 10 of 16 from the field en route to her 22 points, while Donohue nailed 4 of 6 from beyond the arc to highlight a 16-point effort. Condon finished with 14 points and freshman forward Nicolette Martin (Colchester, Conn.) added 13 points to round out four Blazers with double-digit points.

Murphy, Condon, and freshman guard Emily Boucher (Ashburnham, Mass.) secured 11 rebounds each, while Normandie collected a team-best 13 boards to give Elms four players with double-digit rebounds.

Normandie handed out seven assists, while Boucher and Condon finished with five assists each in the winning effort.  

Newbury was led by Kendra Bannister (Washington, D.C.) who drained three treys en route to a team-high 11 points, while Shayla White (Dorchester, Mass.) and Katie Haney (Winchendon, Mass.) netted 10 points each.

Catherine O'Connell (Quincy, Mass.) amassed a game-best 20 rebounds, while Haney added nine boards. Ashley Monteiro (Cambridge, Mass.) and O'Connell each added nine points, while White and Morganna Machado (Attleboro, Mass.) dished out five assists each.

Elms returns to NECC action on Tuesday, Feb. 8 when it hosts Southern Vermont College. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.