Women’s Basketball Battles Past Mitchell College, 57-53 in Overtime

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior forward Gianna Youngblood (East Freetown, Mass.) tied her collegiate career-high 25 points and the Blazers erased a 12-point deficit in the first half to notch a 57-53 victory over Mitchell College in Thursday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 3-2 on the season, 2-0 in NECC play, while Mitchell moves to 1-5 overall, 1-1 in conference action.

With the score deadlocked at 49-49 after regulation, Mitchell's Caycee Williams (Waterbury, Conn.) gave the Mariners a 51-49 lead with 4:17 to play in the first period of extra time. A jumper by Elms' junior forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) leveled the game once more at 51-51 at the 3:55 mark, and 52 seconds later, Youngblood lifted the Blazers to a two-point lead with a pair of free throws.

Amanda Garcia (New Britain, Conn.) answered for Mitchell with a jumper with 1:38 remaining in the frame to set the score at 53-53, before Elms' senior guard Ellen Donohue (Southington, Conn.) cashed in on a mid-range jumper at the 1:16 mark to give the Blazers a 55-53 edge. Freshman guard Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) then came away with a clutch steal with 47 seconds on the clock and junior forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) delivered a pair of free throws with 22 ticks remaining to set the final score at 57-53 and seal a thrilling comeback win for Elms.

Youngblood scored her game-high 25 points on 6 of 19 shooting from the field and 3 of 9 from beyond the arc. She was also a stellar 10 of 13 from the free throw line and added 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals in the winning effort.

Parks added 13 points and a team-best 14 rebounds to go along with four assists. Pickett added six points and 11 rebounds, Donohue passed out four helpers and freshman guard Amanda Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) notched five points off the bench.

The Mariners received a team-best 18 points from Garcia on 7 of 17 shooting from the field. She also hauled in a game-high 16 boards off the bench. Kate Mulloy (Gardner, Mass.) added 11 points and Jessica Shepherd (West Hartford, Conn.) swished 10. Dazjavia Williams (Waterbury, Conn.) and Savannah Boyle (Attleboro, Mass.) pulled down 14 and 10 rebounds respectively, while Samantha Ryan (Quaker Hill, Conn.) dished out a game-high seven assists.

In the opening frame, Mitchell led by as many as 12 when Garcia converted a layup at the 8:40 mark to set the score at 19-7.

Late in the stanza, Elms pulled to within five when Youngblood powered in a bucket underneath and made the ensuing free throw after being fouled on the play to set the score at 27-22 with 43 seconds left. Garcia then hit a jumper at the 43 second mark, Boyle drained a pair of free throws with six ticks left and Williams made a layup as time expired after a steal by Ryan to extend Mitchell's cushion to 11 at intermission, 33-22.

In the second half, Elms slowly chipped away at the Mariners' lead as Parks canned a trey and Youngblood struck twice from long distance to set the score at 38-36 in favor of Mitchell with 11:57 to play. Wall then drilled a three-pointer at the 9:55 mark to give the Blazers their first lead of the contest a 39-38.

The sides played to four more ties scores and neither team held more than a two-point lead throughout the rest of regulation. Parks swished a pair of foul shots with 2:28 remaining and Garcia answered with a layup at the 1:41 mark to send the game into overtime tied at 49-49.

Elms returns to NECC action at Newbury College on Saturday, December 7 at 1:00 p.m.