Bard Outlasts Women's Basketball

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's basketball team closed their first half of the 2015-16 season dropping a tight battle to visiting Bard College, 74-70, in non-conference action at Picknelly Arena Saturday afternoon. The Blazers moves to 4-4 on the season, while Bard improves to 5-4 overall.

The Blazers held the advantage over Bard in the opening quarter as a three-pointer from senior Maira Pantoja (East Windsor, Conn.) put Elms up 7-4 with 7:06 left in the first quarter. Bard tied the score on five occasions in the first quarter until a pair of free throws from freshman Sarah Morris (Newport, R.I.) gave the Raptors their first lead of the game, 11-10 at the 1:53 mark. The teams wrapped the first quarter, knotted at 13-13.

A layup from freshman Nakia Mabin (Bridgeport, Conn.) and a three-pointer from junior Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) pushed the Blazers to an 18-13 advantage. With 5:51 left in the quarter, Elms freshman Chaniah Pantry (New Haven, Conn.) converted a layup in the paint to give the Blazers their largest lead of the game, 23-17. The Raptors whittled the Blazers lead down over the final minutes, orchestrating an 13-6 run, featuring five points from senior Bianka Bell (Stamford, Conn.), to put Bard up 30-29 heading into halftime.

The squads exchanged buckets to open the third period until three straight buckets from Bard, capped off by a layup from senior Tytravia Riley (Miami, Fla.), gave the Raptors their largest lead, 38-31, with 6:38 left in the quarter. The Blazers responded with a 7-0 run in the next minute of play to knot the score at 38-38. With the score at 44-44, Bard closed the period outscoring, 4-1, to grab a 48-45 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Bell took things over for Bard in the fourth quarter, netting 16 points in the period. The Blazers were within two points on four occasions in the fourth until six straight points from Bell handed the Raptors a 59-53 advantage. A three-point play from Burr brought the Blazers within a possession, but a 7-3 run from Bard kept the Raptors ahead 66-59 with 2:20 to play. With less than a minute to play, Elms freshman Kayla Aberdale (Housatonic, Mass.) connected on back-to-back three-pointers to put the Blazers within three points, but free throw shooting kept Elms at bay as Bard secured the 74-70 victory.

"I thought we played hard and played tough for a majority of the time," said Elms Head Coach Michelle Proulx. "[Bard] is tough team to guard and play against with their strong post players and a skilled point guard, so it was a good test for us heading into the second semester. There were points today were we played really well against the zone [defense], which we haven't seen a lot this year, and some of the teams in our conference play that style, so it was good to be able to see that for a majority of the game. We just need to clean up the little things, like boxing out all the time and getting to our help spots, which we need to do in order to be successful in conference. Our non-conference schedule is pretty strong this season, and we still have two more tough matchups, which will prepare us for the conference play."

The Blazers had four scorers reach double figures, led by a team-high 13 points from Burr. Brown added 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Aberdale chipped in a career-high 12 points and two assists off the bench. Senior JC Pickett(Chicopee, Mass.) tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and a season-high five assists, and Pantry logged a team-high 10 rebounds with eight points.

Bell led all scorers with a game-high 30 points, connecting on 13-of-18 free throws, with six rebounds and four assists. Riley notched her eighth double-double with 17 points and a game-high 18 rebounds, along with four steals. Morris added 13 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Lexi Akingbade (Los Angeles, Calif.) had 11 rebounds and five points in the win.

The Raptors edged the Blazers on the glass, 59-46, during the contest. Elms connected on 41.2% (28-of-68) from the floor, including 42.9% (6-of-14) from three-point range, and 38.1% (8-of-21) from the foul line. Bard shot 31.9% (23-of-72) from the field, 10% (1-of-10) from three-point, and 65.9% (27-of-41) from the free throw line.

The Blazers will return to action on January 5^th with a non-conference road trip to St. Joseph's (Conn.) with a tip scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The Raptors travel to Skidmore College for a 2:00 pm tip on January 2^nd.

ELMS BASKETBALL