Women's Basketball Outlasts Bard on the Road

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

ANNADALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Elms College women's basketball team led wire-to-wire in a 62-53 non-conference win over Bard College Saturday afternoon at the Stevenson Athletic Center.

The Blazers raced to an early 8-3 lead in the opening four minutes behind four points from senior forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.). Back-to-back layups from Bard junior forward Tytravia Riley (Miami, Fla.) pulled the Raptors to within a bucket, 11-10, with 11:29 to play in the first. Leading 13-12, the Blazers rebuilt their advantage with a 10-0 run behind eight points from Parks. The Raptors closed the first half on a 8-0 run to make it a 23-20 game.

Riley converted a layup to open the second half to bring the Raptors within a point, 23-22, but the Blazers used a 7-0 run, fueled by five points from senior guard Gianna Youngblood (Lakeville, Mass.), to cushion their lead to 30-22 with 18:02 to play. Elms pushed their lead to double digits, 38-28, on a layup from senior forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) at the 14:23 mark. Bard continued to show their resilience with a 10-2 run to make it a 40-38 game with 8:37 to play. The squads exchanged buckets over the next three minutes. Leading 44-42 with 5:48 remaining, the Blazers used a 12-5 run over the next four minutes to close the door on the Raptors, securing the 62-53 victory.

Parks powered the Blazers with a double-double, posting game-high in points and rebounds with 24 and 12, respectively. Youngblooded netted 16 points, shooting 7-of-13 from the floor, while Pickett and junior guard Mariah Brown (Windsor, Conn.) each had seven points. Pickett added eight rebounds, and Brown grabbed seven boards with a game-high six assists in the win.Bard junior guard Bianka Bell (Stamford, Conn.) recoreded a team-high 15 points with six rebounds and three assists.

Riley registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while senior guard Joanna Regan (Selden, N.Y.) tallied eight points with five assists with a game-high five steals.The Blazers outrebounded the Raptors, 43-37, during the contest. Elms connected 45.1% (23-of-51) from the field and 76.2% (16-of-21) from the free throw line. Bard shot 29.2% (19-of-65) from the floor, including 27.8% (5-of-18) from three-point range, and 62.5% (10-of-16) from the foul line.

The Blazers extend their win streak to four games to improve to 4-4 on the season, while Bard dropped to 4-4 overall. Elms returns to actions after the holiday break on January 6th when they host St. Joseph's (CT) at Picknelly Arena at 7 p.m. Bard travels to Vassar College on January 6th at 6 p.m.

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