Women's Basketball Opens Conference Play With Win

BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Newbury College women's basketball team opened New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action falling to Elms College, 65-48, Tuesday evening. Sophomore forward Destiny Spears (Arnold, Md.) dominated the front court recording a career single-game high 19 rebounds while her counterpart in green senior forward JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) was equally as dominant. Pickett pulled down 16 boards while coming two points shy of a double-double, tallying eight.

Game Information
Score: Elms 65, Newbury 48
Records: Elms (2-3, 1-0 NECC), Newbury (1-5, 0-1 NECC)
Location: Papas Gymnasium – Brookline, Mass.
Newbury Starters: Beals (F), Kelley (F), Spears (F), Sandifer (G), Roeser (G)
Elms Starters: Burr (F), Pickett (F), Mabin (F), Larochelle (G), Pantoja (G)

Newbury Highlights:

• Sophomore forward Destiny Spears dominated the front court for the Nighthawks with a career single-game best 19 rebounds – nine in the first quarter…
• The Nighthawks went on a three-minute, 11-0 run midway through the second quarter to take a 25-18 lead, getting a variety of offense from a mix of upperclassmen and freshman – upper classmen Spears and senior guard Katelyn Roeser and  first years Tina Babcock and Savannah Olsen…
• Newbury outscored Elms in the pain, 10-4, and took a two-point, 25-23 lead into the break…

Elms Highlights:

• Junior guard Emily Burr was 5-for-11 in the second half scoring 14 of her game-high 16 points…
• Senior forward JC Pickett was trouble in the paint defensively recording a team-high 16 rebounds…
• Junior forward Alexandra Marques capped off a mini 5-0 run to end the first half to pull the Blazers to within two points…

Turning Point:

• Burr drained a three-pointer from junior forward Heather Bailey  with 30 seconds left in the third quarter to take a three-point, 37-34 lead in the final period…

How It Happened:

• The third quarter was a back-and-forth battle with two ties and one lead change…
• Roeser knocked down one-of-two from the free-throw line with four minutes on the clock to take the largest lead of the period, four points – 32-28…
• The Blazers answered with a 6-0 run to take the two point advantage…
• Spears tied it up at 34 netting two from the charity stripe before Burr drained her only three pointer of the game…
• Elms pulled away in the fourth quarter behind Burr's team-high eight points in the period…

Team Leaders
Newbury
Points: Destiny Spears – 13
Rebounds: Destiny Spears – 19
Assists: Taylor Kelley, Katelyn Roeser, Jovanna Sandifer – 1
Steals: Destiny Spears – 4
Blocks: Savannah Olsen – 2

Elms
Points: Emily Burr – 16
Rebounds: JC Pickett – 16
Assists: Maira Pantoja – 4
Steals: Emily Burr – 3
Blocks: JC Pickett – 2

They Said It…

"We wanted to start off [conference action] with a win and push each other hard in practice and the game, Elms was just a good team in the second half when it mattered." – Sophomore forward Destiny Spears following the game

Up Next:

Newbury hosts Lesley University Thursday evening December 3^rd at 6:00 p.m. Elms will also be in actionThursday night against Daniel Webster College on the road at 5:30 p.m. 

Source: (Newbury Athletics)