Women’s Basketball Falls to Regis College, 71-43

WESTON, Mass. – Elms College junior forward Gianna Youngblood (East Freetown, Mass.) scored a team-high 11 points and junior forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) netted 10 points and collected 10 rebounds, but Regis College's Janaya Bradley (New Haven, Conn.) led all scorers with 20 points as the top-seeded Pride downed the second-seeded Blazers, 71-43 in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship tournament women's basketball title game at Higgins Court in Weston, Mass.

With the win, Regis improves to 23-4 overall and earns its second straight trip to the NCAA Division III Championship. Elms concludes its season 18-10 overall. The Pride becomes the first team since Lesley University to win back-to-back NECC women's basketball championships after the Lynx accomplished the feat in 2009 and 2010.

Regis raced out to a 9-2 lead in the opening minutes of the game as four different players scored for the Pride. A jumper from Blazers' senior guard Ellen Donohue (Southington, Conn.) followed by a layup from Parks cut the Elms deficit to three, but the Pride rattled off a 9-1 run capped off by a Claire Ramonas (Portland, Maine) layup to give Regis an 18-7 advantage with 11:41 remaining in the first stanza.

At the 4:20 mark, a pair of Parks baskets sandwiched a freshman guard Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) free throw to make it an eight point game at 29-21. Alyssa Vieira-Lanpher (Princeton, Mass.) then knocked down a jumper to put the Pride back on top by 10 at 31-21 – a lead it held into intermission.

Bradley led Regis with nine points, while Amanda Hawkesworth (Abington, Mass.) added seven of her own. Parks posted eight points and seven rebounds to lead the Blazers following the first 20 minutes of action.

Early in the second half, the Regis lead ballooned to 17 as Marro scored seven points in the opening four minutes of the half.  Youngblood answered with five-straight points to make it a 42-30 game, and a jumper by Burr cut the deficit to single digits at 44-36 with 10:24 to play.

A 15-foot jumper from Bradley ended a nearly three-minute scoring drought for the Pride, and an and-one layup from Marro on the next possession helped spark a 12-0 run that gave Regis a 56-36 lead with just over six minutes to play.

Back-to-back baskets by junior forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) made it a 16-point game, but the Blazers could get no closer as Regis held leads in excess of 28 points en route to its second-straight NECC crown.

The Pride won the rebounding battle, 45-38, and committed only eight turnovers compared to 18 for the visitors. Regis turned those into 24 points off turnovers, scoring 20 points on the fast break as well. The Pride shot 41.2-percent from the floor, while Elms shot 29.6-percent from the field.

Bradley led the Pride with 20 points, while Marro chipped in 16 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Ramonas added 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Hawkesworth grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to go with nine points, three assists, a pair of blocks, and four steals. Mikayla Murphy (Attleboro, Mass.) and Vieira-Lanpher each scored five points apiece off the bench.

Elms was led by a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds from Parks. Youngblood added 11 points and six rebounds, while Pickett had seven points and eight rebounds. Freshman guard Marissa Merrill (Meredith, N.H.) chipped in six points, while Donohue finished with five of her own. 

2013-14 NECC Championship All-Tournament Team
Emilee Marro, Regis College – MVP
Janaya Bradley, Regis College
Denisha Parks, Elms College      
JC Pickett, Elms College  
Tatiana Mojica, Becker College  
Jessica Shepherd, Mitchell College