Youngblood Nets 25 Points as Women’s Basketball Bests Wheelock College, 80-54

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Elms College sophomore forward Gianna Youngblood (East Freetown, Mass.) scored a game-high 25 points on the strength of seven three-pointers as the Blazers notched an 80-54 victory over Wheelock College in Monday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game played at Pine Manor College.  

With the win, Elms improves to 14-9 overall, 13-3 in NECC play, while Wheelock moves to 2-21 on the season, 2-14 in NECC action.

Youngblood was a stellar 9 of 14 from the field including 7 of 11 from long distance en route to a season-high 25 points. Junior guard Ellen Donohue (Southington, Conn.) paced the Blazers' attack with seven assists and eight points, while sophomore forwards Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) and JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) added 14 and 10 points each in the winning effort.

Parks led the rebounding effort with a game-best 12 boards, and Younblood notched six steals in the winning effort. Elms shot 44.6-percent from the field as a unit and hit on 50-percent of its shots from three-point range.

After playing to a 12-12 deadlock in the first 6:15 of the game, junior forward Nicolette Martin (Colchester, Conn.) canned a trey and Youngblood sank back-to-back triples to spark a 22-2 Elms run that set the score at 34-14 with 3:20 to play in the first half.

Wheelock's Cathryn Fernandes (Hudson, N.H.) stopped the run momentarily with a jumper that set the score at 34-16, but the Blazers closed out the half on a 13-0 run to set the score at 47-16 at the break.

In the second half, Elms continued to pull away as Youngblood, Pickett and Parks made three straight fast-break buckets on three consecutive steals by Younblood to give the Blazers a commanding 53-16 advantage.

Fernandes and Sarah McCaffrey (East Taunton, Mass.) led the Wildcats with 12 points each, while Randi Davis (Wilmington, Mass.) netted 10 points of her own in the losing effort.

Kate Drummey (Harvard, Mass.) led Wheelock with six rebounds, while Fernandes and Jessica Ramsey (Milford, Mass.) added five boards each.

The Blazers are back in NECC action on Wednesday, February 13 at Daniel Webster College at 6:00 p.m.