Women's Basketball Throttles Mitchell

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's basketball delivered one of their top offensive performances of the season as the Blazers dismantled visiting Mitchell College, 95-48, in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) tilt at Picknelly Arena Saturday afternoon.

A layup from Mitchell junior guard Diamond Thomas (Hartford, Conn.) at the 17:27 mark of the first half put the Mariners up 4-3, which would end up being the last time Mitchell held a lead in the contest. The Blazers took control with a 23-1 run over the next eight minutes of play, powered by seven points from senior guard Gianna Youngblood (Lakeville, Mass.) and four-point efforts from senior forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) and sophomore forward Alexandra Marques (Newington, Conn.). The Mariners battled back with an 11-3 run, fueled by seven points from Thomas, to cut the Elms lead to 29-16 with 5:40 left in the half. The Blazers stifled the Mariners comeback, closing the period on a 16-5 run, staking Elms to a 45-21 advantage at the break.

The Blazers continued to pad their lead to open the second half, and a pair of free throws from senior forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) putting Elms up 56-30 with 15:24 remaining. A steal from Parks lead to a fast break layup from junior guard Maira Pantoja (East Windsor, Conn.) which doubled the Blazers advantage over Mitchell, 69-34, with 9:09 on the clock. Elms maintained a 30-point lead for the next five minutes, and a pair of free throws from Pickett pushed the Blazers advantage into the forties, 82-41. Elms outscored the Mariners, 13-7, down the stretch en route to the 95-48 victory.

Six Blazers reach double-digit point totals in the win, led by a game-high 27 points from Parks, who added a game-high 12 rebounds to record her eight double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.). Junior guard Mariah Brown (Windsor Locks, Conn.) tallied a game-high six assists with 12 points and three steals, while Pickett had 11 points and seven rebounds. Youngblood and Pantoja added 10 points apiece.

"I thought it was a great team win tonight," said Elms Head Coach Michelle Proulx. "Offensively, obviously we when off a little bit, and we scored in a lot of different ways, but I think our defense, from the beginning, is what won it for us. We focused on that a lot in practice yesterday and during the beginning of the week before out game on Thursday. WE are proud and happy with the way we played defensively, and our offense came from that. Everybody got into the game tonight, nearly everybody scored, so when that happens everyone gets excited and brings us together even more. It was a great team win, and great motivation for the final month of the season. We've made a couple of statement wins during the second half of the season, and I think this was a huge one. Mitchell is definitely one of the better teams in our conference, and they always play us very hard. It's definitely a statement win, but I think the way we played defense is a statement right there.

The Mariners were paced by a team-high 13 points and a game-high four steals from Thomas. Sophomore guard Jessica Shepherd (West Hartford, Conn.) netted 12 points, and sophomore guard Samantha Ryan (Quaker Hill, Conn.) grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds with nine points.

The Blazers controlled the rebounding (55-38), points in the paint (42-18), points off turnovers (29-6), and bench points (21-11). Elms shot 48.6% from the field, including 33.3% from three-point range, and 67.6% from the foul line. Mitchell shot 27.9% from the floor, 25% from three-point, and 61.5% from the free throw line.

With the win, the Blazers improve to 11-6 overall, and 9-1 in the NECC standings, while the Mariners dropped to 5-11, and 5-5 on the season. Elms will look to continue their winning way with a road trip to Daniel Webster on February 3^rd for a 5:30 p.m. tip. Mitchell host Bay Path Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m.

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