Normandie and Parks Score 14 Each as Women’s Basketball Bests Southern Vermont College, 74-45

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior guard Jen Normandie (Westford, Mass.) and sophomore forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) each contributed a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds and the Blazers' reserves added 30 points to help secure a 74-45 victory over Southern Vermont College in Tuesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 8-8 overall, 7-2 in league action, while Southern Vermont slips to 3-13 on the season, 3-6 in NECC play.

After jumping out to an early 13-5 lead with 13:03 to play in the opening half, the Blazers used a pair of foul shots from junior forward Nicolette Martin (Colchester, Conn.) that sparked a 20-9 run over the next 12 minutes to set the score at 33-14 with 1:32 remaining in the frame.

A pair of Amber Flagg (Windsor, Conn.) free throws stopped Elms' run and brought the score to 33-16, but a layup by sophomore forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) and a jumper by freshman guard Jenna Oyler (Metuchen, N.J.) allowed Elms to stake a 37-16 lead at intermission.

Parks scored 12 of her team-high 14 points in the first 20 minutes of play and Normandie scored 10 of her team-best 14 points in the first half as well. The duo also combined to haul in 17 of their collective 22 rebounds in the first stanza.

The Blazers continued to pull away in the second half and extended its lead to as many as 33 (65-32) when junior guard Jennifer Belanger (Chicopee, Mass.) hit a jumper in the corner with 7:08 to play in the contest.

Elms' freshman center Melissa LaFlamme (West Springfield, Mass.) had her best shooting performance hitting on 5 of 7 from the field en route to a collegiate career-high 10 points. Sophomore guard Gianna Youngblood (East Freetown, Mass.) canned a pair of treys and finished with eight points, while Martin totaled seven off the bench.

Pickett and Oyler scored six points each and Pickett pulled down seven boards behind Parks' and Normadie's 11 each, and junior guard Ellen Donohue (Southington, Conn.) helped spread out Elms' attack with five assists.

Flagg finished with a game-high 21 points in the losing effort for the Mountaineers and Kala MacKenzie (Fair Haven, Vt.) added 10 to give Southern Vermont a pair of players in double figures.

MacKenzie and Javasha White (Schenectady, N.Y.) chipped in a team-best eight rebounds each, while White and Sarah McDonald (Cohoes, N.Y.) registered six points each.

Elms begins its three-game road swing on Saturday, January 26 when it travels to Lesley University for a 6:30 p.m. NECC contest.