Mitchell College Outlasts Women’s Basketball, 57-50

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Elms College junior forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) registered a double-double of 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds and the Blazers erased a 13-point halftime deficit, but Mitchell College used a team-high 16-point effort from Caycee Williams (Torrington, Conn.) and four made free throws from Kate Mulloy (Gardner, Mass.) with less than 30 seconds to play to help Mitchell notch a 57-50 victory in Saturday afternoon's women's basketball game in New London, Conn.  

With the loss, Elms moves to 7-8 on the season, 6-2 in NECC action, while Mitchell improves to 8-7 overall, 8-1 in league play.

With the score set at 50-50 following a pair of made foul shots by Elms' freshman guard Marissa Merrill (Meredith, N.H.) with 1:07 to play in regulation, Mitchell closed out the contest scoring seven unanswered points. Jessica Shepherd (West Hartford, Conn.) swished a three-pointer to start the run and Mulloy followed with four consecutive free throws to seal the 57-50 win.

The Blazers trailed by 13 (33-20) at intermission and chipped into the Mariners' lead scoring 12 straight points which featured three-pointers from Merrill and junior forward Gianna Youngblood (East Freetown, Mass.) and capped by a Pickett layup to set the score at 33-32 in favor of Mitchell with 15:09 to play.

The Mariners answered with an 8-0 run of its own to extend the lead to 41-33 following a Toshina Jessamy (Hartford, Conn.) triple at the 11:24 mark.

Elms again battled back, pulling to within two (43-41) after a pair of made foul shots by freshman guard Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) with 8:07 to play and eventually knotted the contest at 50-50 seven minutes later on Merrill's two free throws. However, Mitchell forced the Blazers into three missed three-point attempts and scored seven points of its own in the final minute to seal the victory.

Elms' junior forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) led all scorers with 17 points and added four rebounds and three steals, Pickett added three assists to her double-double effort, and Merrill netted 10 points in the losing effort on the strength of 5 of 6 shooting from the charity stripe. Merrill also dished out four assists and collected six rebounds, while Youngblood pulled in six boards in the losing effort.

Williams led Mitchell with 16 points and 11 boards, while Jessamy added nine points and nine rebounds in the winning effort. Shepherd and Savannah Boyle (Attleboro, Mass.) scored seven points each and Shepherd dished out five assists, while Diamond Thomas (Hartford, Conn.) added eight points off the bench for the Mariners.

Elms returns to NECC action on Tuesday, January 21 when it hosts Becker College at 6:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.