Parks Nets 23 as Women’s Basketball Outlasts Mitchell College, 54-53

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Elms College sophomore forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) netted a game-high 23 points and pulled down a game-best 10 rebounds and the Blazers fended off a late rally by Mitchell College to help the Blazers post a 54-53 victory in Thursday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game at Yarnall Athletic Center in New London, Conn.

With the win, Elms improves to 4-7 overall, 3-1 in NECC play, while Mitchell falls to 1-9 overall, 1-3 in conference action.

After falling behind 26-17 in the first half, Mitchell stormed back in the second half pulling to within one when Kate Mulloy (Gardner, Mass.) hit a jump shot with 9:48 to play in regulation to set the score at 39-38.

Elms' freshman guard Jenna Oyler (Metuchen, N.J.) then hit a trey to give the Blazers a four-point lead before Diamond Thomas (Hartford, Conn.) canned a three-pointer of her own to narrow the Mariners' deficit back to one at 42-41. Kaylee Cerruto (Torrington, Conn.), Mulloy and Savannah Boyle (Attleboro, Mass.) each hit jump shots to give Mitchell a 47-42 edge with 5:31 to play in the game.

Ten unanswered points by Elms, highlighted by seven from Parks and a swish from beyond the arc by junior guard Ellen Donohue (Southington, Conn.) allowed the Blazers to post a 52-47 cushion with 1:49 on the clock.

A Mulloy three-pointer at the 1:28 mark narrowed the Mariners' deficit to two (52-50) before Parks converted a pair of foul shots to again set the lead at four points with 53 seconds remaining in regulation.

Cerruto delivered a heroic three-pointer with 42 seconds left to pull the Mariners to within one, but Elms played solid defense over the final half minute, fending off a pair of Mitchell shots to help seal a thrilling 54-53 victory.

Parks was 9 for 21 from the field en route to her game-high 23 points and Elms shot 33.3-percent from the floor and 90.0-percent from the charity stripe as a team.

Oyler finished with 10 points off the bench on the strength of two three-pointers and freshman forward Melissa LaFlamme (West Springfield, Mass.) added eight points. Junior forward Nicolette Martin (Colchester, Conn.) dished out a game-high six assists and sophomore forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) chipped in seven points off the bench in the winning effort.

Mulloy led the Mariners who shot 30.1-percent from the field with a 15-point effort on 7 of 14 shooting. Thomas and Cerruto netted 12 points each on 5 of 15 and 5 of 16 shooting respectively.

Mulloy added a team-high nine rebounds, followed by Thomas and Dazjavia Williams (Waterbury, Conn.) who registered eight boards each in the losing effort. Caroline Long (Point Hope, Alaska) added seven rebounds and a team-high three assists for the Mariners.

Elms returns to NECC action on Saturday, January 12 when it hosts Wheelock College at 1:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.