Strong Second Half Lifts Women’s Basketball Past Bay Path College, 71-50

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore forwards JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) and Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) combined to score 35 points as the Blazers earned a 71-50 victory over Bay Path College in Thursday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 13-9 overall, 12-3 in conference play, while Bay Path moves to 10-11 on the season, 7-8 in NECC action.

After roaring out to a 23-5 lead in the opening half, Bay Path clawed back to within eight over the final 5:44 of the stanza using a 14-4 run highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from Toni Alexander (Enfield, Conn.) who finished with a game-high 20 points in the contest.

Leading 27-19 at halftime, Brittney Alexander (Enfield, Conn.) and Donohue exchanged jump shots, and the Wildcats' Kayla Skiffington (East Longmeadow, Mass.) swished a pair of free throws to set the score at 29-23. That's as close as Bay Path would get however, as Elms continued to maintain a lead of at least nine points until a Pickett layup at the 12:44 mark set the score at 46-33 and sparked a 23-5 run that gave the Blazers their largest lead of the game (28 points) at 66-39 with 5:37 to play.

Elms shot 39-percent from the field including 46.7-percent in the second half led by Parks' 6 for 10 effort from the floor and 5 for 5 showing from the free throw line as she finished with 17 points.

Donohue and senior guard Jen Normandie (Westford, Mass.) ignited the offense with five assists each, while Pickett hit on 5 of 9 shots from the field and eight of 14 from the stripe to tab a team-high 18 points.

Donohue and freshman guard Jenna Oyler (Metuchen, N.J.) totaled seven points, sophomore guard Gianna Youngblood (East Freetown, Mass.) added eight points and four steals, while Pickett notched four steals of her own.

Parks and freshman forward Melissa LaFlamme (West Springfield, Mass.) led Elms in rebounding with 12 and nine respectively.

Toni Alexander finished with 20 points and six steals, Brittney Alexander hauled in a game-best 13 rebounds and Jessica Santiago (Chicopee, Mass.) swished nine points off the bench to lead Bay Path in defeat.

Santiago also secured six boards and Toni Alexander recorded six steals for the Wildcats who were limited to just 27.3-percent shooting in the contest.

Elms is back in action on Monday, February 11 when it travels to Wheelock College for an 8:00 p.m. NECC game.