Parks Nets 21 as Women’s Basketball Upends Lesley University, 67-40

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) scored a game-high 21 points and hauled in a game-best 16 rebounds to secure her fifth double-double of the season and help the Blazers notch a 67-40 victory over Lesley University in Tuesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 3-7 overall, 2-1 in NECC action, while Lesley falls to 1-8 on the season, 0-3 in league play.

Elms controlled the pace of play from start to finish as Parks hit on 8 of 20 from the floor and 5 of 5 from the foul line en route to her 21 points – 17 of which came in the first half. The Blazers also received stellar offensive output from senior guard Jen Normandie (Westford, Mass.) and junior forward Nicolette Martin (Colchester, Conn.) who each scored eight points, while freshman guard Jenna Oyler (Metuchen, N.J.) netted eight points off the bench for Elms which outscored Lesley's reserves, 23-11.

Parks also had an impressive game on the boards, hauling in a game-high 16 rebounds, 10 of which came on the offensive side leading to a 24-8 advantage for the Blazers in second chance opportunities, and a 42-14 edge in points in the paint.

Junior guard Ellen Donohue (Southington, Conn.) and sophomore forward Gianna Youngblood (East Freetown, Mass.) each grabbed six rebounds, while Oyler and freshman forward Melissa LaFlamme (West Springfield, Mass.) secured five boards each.

Freshman forward Kesley Yusko (Hadley, Mass.) was terrific in 18 minutes off the bench pulling down three rebounds and adding three blocked shots. Youngblood added seven steals in the winning effort helping Elms post a 29-19 differential in points off turnovers.

Sarah Apgar (Andover, N.J.) led the way for Lesley scoring a team-high 12 points and added five steals. Shannon Baker (Lynnbrook, N.Y.) and Kaleigh Gorman (East Setauket, N.Y.) added nine points each for the Lynx and Anthea Rathjens (Sudbury, Mass.) pulled down nine rebounds.

Baker chipped in five steals, Gorman dished out a game-best four assists and Ari Dimou (Manchester, N.H.) contributed seven boards.

Elms finished the game hitting on 33.8-percent of its shots, compared to a 27.1-percent output from Lesley, and the Blazers posted their largest lead of the game (31 points) at the 16:49 mark of the second half.

Elms returns to NECC action on Thursday, January 10 when it travels to Mitchell College for an 8:00 p.m. contest.