Parks Nets 28, Women’s Basketball Falls to Regis College, 66-58

CHICOPEE, Mass. -  Elms College sophomore forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.)netted a game-high 28 points and hauled in a game-best 11 rebounds, but Regis College used five three-pointers from Leah Murphy (Westborough, Mass.) to help pace the Pride to a 66-58 victory in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the loss, Elms moves to 2-5 on the season, 1-1 in NECC action. Regis improves to 3-2 on the season, 2-0 in league play.

In the opening minutes of the game, Regis roared to a 7-0 lead and extended the advantage to 11-3 before Parks hit the front end of two free throws, sophomore forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) converted a layup and freshman guard Jenna Oyler (Metuchen, N.J.)connected for the first of two foul shots to set the score at 11-7 with 12:48 to play in the first period.

A layup by the Pride's Janaya Bradley (New Haven, Conn.) at the 9:50 mark gave Regis a 10 point lead (19-9) – its largest edge of the half.

The Blazers closed to within five (30-25) with 1:27 to play in the stanza when junior guardEllen Donohue (Southington, Conn.) nailed a jumper in the corner, but a jumper by Murphy allowed the Pride to stake a 32-25 advantage at intermission.

Parks and Regis's Claire Ramonas (Portland, Maine) each had 12 points in the opening 20 minutes of play, while Parks led all players on the glass with eight rebounds, followed by seven from the Pride's Emilee Marro (Bedford, N.H.).

The Blazers bolted out of the gate to start the second half as senior guard Jen Normandie (Westford, Mass.), Pickett and Parks each made layups as Elms scored six unanswered points in the first 1:19 and pulled to within one 32-31.

Two-point buckets by Murphy, Marro and Bradley highlighted a 6-2 run by Regis that set the score at 38-33 at the 16:54 mark, but Elms answered with a 6-0 run of its own – all scored by Parks – to give the Blazers their first advantage of the game at 39-38.

The Pride responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Murphy as part of an 8-0 run that gave Regis a 46-39 cushion at the 11:51 mark; and after Elms climbed back to within five (50-45) on a layup by sophomore guard Gianna Youngblood (East Freetown, Mass.) with 9:32 to play, the Pride scored 14 of the next 18 points to post a 64-49 lead with 2:22 to play.

The Blazers netted nine of the final 11 points including six from Parks to pull Elms to within eight at 66-58.

Normandie finished with 10 points, four assists and four rebounds in the losing effort for Elms, while Pickett added eight points and eight boards.

Oyler came off the bench to dish out seven helpers for the Blazers who shot a stellar 49-percent from the field, including 13 of 20 shooting from Parks.

Regis shot 40.3-percent from the field and was led by Murphy who netted 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting including five treys. Marro and Ramonas added 17 and 16 points each, and Bradley chipped in eight points for the Pride to highlight the win.

Murphy handed out four assists as Regis netted 33 points off 23 Elms turnovers.

Elms returns to non-conference action on Saturday, December 15 when it hosts Westfield State University at 1:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.