Parks Nets 31 as Women’s Basketball Downs Wheelock College 86-62

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Elms College junior forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) scored a game-high 31 points and junior forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) hauled in a game-best 14 rebounds to help the Blazers secure an 86-62 victory over Wheelock College in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

With the win, Elms improves to 9-8 on the season, 8-2 in conference action, while Wheelock falls to 3-14 overall, 2-9 in league action.

Parks netted 31 points on 14 of 23 shooting from the floor and totaled 13 rebounds. Pickett followed with 19 points on 8 of 15 shooting from the field in addition to her game-best 14 boards. Freshman guard Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) added 10 points and four assists off the bench and junior forward Gianna Youngblood (East Freetown, Mass.) added nine points and four assists for the Blazers.

Freshman forward Alex Marques (Newington, Conn.) hit on 4 of 7 of shooting en route to nine bench points as Elms shot 48.0-percent from the field and posted a 56-26 advantage in rebounding.

Wheelock was led by Michelle Woods (Wilmington, Mass.) who was a perfect 11 for 11 from the free throw line and 8 of 18 shooting from the field en route to a team-high 27 points. Jaime Grzych (Columbia, Conn.) chipped in 14 points and a game-best seven assists. Jessica Ramsey (Milford, Mass.) added eight points in reserve for the Wildcats, while Woods pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

In the first Wheelock raced out to a 20-12 lead following a jumper by Woods at the 12:03 mark before Elms began to pull back. Elms used a 12-4 run capped by a Parks layup with 8:33 to play in the first half to even the score at 24-24.

The sides tied the game three more times before Burr broke a 37-37 deadlock with a triple at the 3:05 mark that sparked an 11-2 run by the Blazers to close out the half and set the score at 48-39 at intermission.

Parks made a bucket inside and Youngblood canned a three-pointer to start the second half as Elms began to pull away from the Wildcats.

The Blazers maintained its double-digit cushion and led by as many as 26 points (82-56) following a Pickett layup with 3:05 remaining in the contest.

Elms is back in NECC action on Tuesday, January 28 when it travels to Bennington, Vt. for a 7:00 p.m. contest with Southern Vermont College.