Women's Basketball Drops Season Opener to Anna Maria

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's basketball team was dealt a 65-51 defeat at the hands of visiting Anna Maria College in their 2015-16 season opener at Picknelly Arena Saturday afternoon. The Blazers fall to 0-1 on the season, while Anna Maria improves to 1-0 overall.

The AMCATS led wire-to-wire, racing to an early 10-4 lead in the opening five minutes of play, behind four points from junior Christina Gauvin (Dudley, Mass.). A layup from Elms senior Mariah Brown (Windsor Locks, Conn.) at the 3:21 mark of the first quarter trimmed the Blazers deficit to 12-9. The AMCATS closed the first quarter on a 7-1 run to grab a 19-10 advantage.

Back-to-back layups from Elms junior Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) and senior JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) pulled the Blazers within six, 20-14, until a 7-0 run by Anna Maria rebuilt a 27-14 advantage with 3:53 remaining in the half. A three-pointer from Burr at the 2:06 mark cut the Elms deficit to single digits, but a three-point play from Gauvin closed the half with Anna Maria leading 31-20.

The AMCATS maintained their momentum into the third quarter, and a layup from freshman Shannon Hofmiller (Oxford, Conn.) gave the AMCATS their largest lead of the game, 40-21, with 7:08 on the clock. A pair of free throws from Elms freshman Chaniah Pantry (New Haven, Conn.) and a pair of layup from Pickett made it a 46-31 game, as Anna Maria ended the third quarter with a 51-33 advantage.

In the final frame of action, Pantry and Pickett worked together to whittle the Blazers deficit to 51-39 in the opening three minutes. The AMCATS answered the Blazers late rallies, preventing Elms from lowering their deficit to single digits over the final minutes of play to lock up the 65-51 win.

"I feel like we have a lot to work on, which is where we are supposed to be at this point," said Elms College Head Coach Michelle Proulx. "We definitely have some things to work on both offensively and defensively, but I felt like we had a some bright spots in a couple player. [Pantry] had a good game in her first real action, she definitely turned it on in the second half, showed what she can do, and will hopefully build off of that in practice heading into a tough week. Defensively, we need to work on guarding ball-handlers and keeping people in front of us, and our help defense. These are things we'll work on throughout the year as we face better guard play. We need to be dialed in next time on the court, there were points today where we were individual dialed in, but not as a collective. It will be a huge test against Castleton, they are always a strong opponent with a lot of returners. They have a strong point guard, and it will be a good test to prepare us for conference."

Pantry kicked off her collegiate career with a double-double, notching a game-high 14 rebounds with 13 points. Pickett added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Brown grabbed eight rebounds with three points and three assists. Senior Maira Pantoja (East Windsor, Conn.) had seven points, and Burr chipped in six points and three rebounds.

Gauvin paced Anna Maria with a game-high 20 points, shooting 6-of-17 from the floor, with a game-high eight steals. Junior Deja Taitt (Cambia Heights, N.Y.) contributed 19 points with a game-high seven assists and five rebounds. Sophomore Kristina Russo (South Windsor, Conn.) tallied 10 points and six rebounds in the win.

The Blazers edged the AMCATS on the glass, 50-42, during the contest. Anna Maria generated 28 points off Blazer turnovers, while the Elms bench outscored the AMCATS bench, 22-9.

Elms will return to the court with a non-conference road trip to Castleton Wednesday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Anna Maria hosts Salem State in non-conference action Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.

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