Stellar Three-Point Shooting Lifts Women’s Basketball Over Becker College, 80-50

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) tied for the game high in points with 16 and the Blazers shot a staggering 64.3-percent from the three-point line to help secure an 80-50 victory over Becker College in Wednesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 8-8 on the season, 7-2 in conference play, while Becker slips to 5-11 overall, 5-5 in NECC action.

Parks led three players in double figures for Elms including junior forward Gianna Youngblood (East Freetown, Mass.) who finished with 15 points and totaled a game-high 12 rebounds.

Junior forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) added 12 points, while freshman guard Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) finished with nine points and a team-best five assists off the bench. Freshman guard Marissa Merrill (Meredith, N.H.) added eight points and freshman forward Alex Marques (Newington, Conn.) chipped in seven points in the winning effort.

Burr and Youngblood were each 3 of 4 from long distance as the Blazers hit on 9 of 14 from beyond the arc. Elms was also 15 of 16 from the free throw line (93.8-percent) led by Youngblood's 4 for 4 effort. Parks hauled in eight rebounds and added three steals to her 16-point effort.

Becker was led by Tatiana Mojica (Worcester, Mass.) who tied Parks with a game-high 16 points. Haley Ooms (Valatie, N.Y.) and Elizabeth McNiff (Leominster, Mass.) added nine points each, while Mojica grabbed a team-best six boards.

Ooms was stellar in the back court for the Hawks dishing out a game-high six assists and notching four steals, while Jacqueline Chila (Monroe, Conn.) added five rebounds in the losing effort.

In the first half, Parks led all scorers with 10 points while McNiff canned three treys for Becker and concluded the stanza with nine points. The Blazers started the contest on a 15-2 run over the first 6:05 and turned that into a 22-point, 41-19 advantage at intermission.

Elms continued to apply the offensive pressure in the second frame and extended its lead to as many as 39 (75-36) on a triple by freshman guard Kayla Patrick (Bronx, N.Y.) with 4:09 to play in the game.

The Hawks closed out the game on a 6-0 run which included a pair of layups by Mojica and a bucket underneath from Karena Prescott (New Bedford, Mass.) as time expired to set the final score at 80-50.

Elms returns to NECC action on Saturday, January 25 when it travels to Wheelock College for a 1:00 p.m. contest.