Women’s Basketball Powers Past Mitchell College, 56-39

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) scored a game-high 21 points, collected a game-best 15 rebounds, and senior guard Jen Normandie (Westford, Mass.) added 10 points to help the Blazers notch a 56-39 victory in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 12-8 overall, 11-2 in conference action, while Mitchell moves to 4-15 overall, 4-9 in league action.

In the opening period, Elms raced out an early 11-2 advantage, and the nine-point lead was the Blazers' largest of the half as Mitchell fought to within three on a Kate Mulloy (Gardner, Mass.) jumper with 9:09 to play to set the score at 15-12, but that's as close as the Mariners would get as Blazers' junior guard Ellen Donohue (Southington, Conn.) and freshman guard Jenna Oyler (Metuchen, N.J.) each canned three-pointers to help Elms stake a 29-20 lead at intermission.

Parks and Oyler each finished with seven points in the first 20 minutes of play, while Mulloy and Amanda Garcia (New Britain, Conn.) cashed in six points each for Mitchell.

In the second half, Elms scored 19 of the first 26 points, capped by a Parks jumper with 8:09 to play to help the Blazers post their largest lead of the contest (21 points) at 48-27.

The Mariners narrowed the gap to 15 points on a swish from beyond the arc by Savannah Boyle (Attleboro, Mass.) with 4:28 to play that set the score at 50-35, and again when Dazjavia Williams (Waterbury, Conn.) drilled a pair of free throws with 1:48 remaining in the game.

Mitchell could get no closer however as Elms' freshman guard Ashley LaFortune (Osan AFB, South Korea) sealed the win with a pair of foul shots with 14 seconds left to complete the 56-39 victory.

Elms outscored Mitchell, 32-12 in the paint and shot 32.3-percent from the floor. Parks led all rebounders with 15, followed by sophomore forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) who pulled down 12 and Normandie who registered eight rebounds.

Oyler dished out a game-high four assists, while Normandie, Pickett and Parks added three each. Parks also recorded five steals and four blocked shots, followed by three swipes by Oyler.

The Mariners were led by Garcia and Mulloy who each scored a team-best nine points, and both hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.

Elms is back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 5 when it hosts Daniel Webster College in NECC action at 8:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.