Women's Basketball Powers Past Wheelock on Senior Night

Kaleigh Anderson (@KaleighAnd1)

CHICOPEE, Mass. –The Elms College Women's Basketball team ran away with the 59-47 victory over Wheelock College in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) matchup on their senior night Thursday evening at Picknelly Arena. With the win the Blazers rise to 13-11 on the season and 12-5 in the conference, while the Wildcats fall to 17-6 overall and 13-4 in the NECC.

Prior to the contest, the Blazers honored their departing seniors, Mariah Brown (Windsor Locks, Conn.), Maira Pantoja (East Windsor, Conn.), and JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.).

The Elms squad rose to the occasion blasting a deep Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) three 17 seconds into the first to set the pace for what would be an eventful evening at Picknelly arena. From there the Wildcats would respond with a layup off the hands of Kayla Corshia (Medway, Mass.) to which Brown would find a lane to tally a double of her own. Brown would go on to lead the Blazers scoring efforts in the quarter netting eight going 4-for-5 from the field. At the 4:23 tally the Blazers score rose to 13-5 after another Brown layup found its home. Wheelock would produce a Michelle Woods (Wilmington, Mass.) basket in response, however the Blazers would maintain control of the quarter ultimately going 9-for-20 from the field to send them off into the second owning a 20-15 scoreboard.

The Blazers kept up their intensity throughout the second with Alexandra Marques (Newington, Conn.) scoring first for Elms in response to another Woods jumper. Mackenzie LaRochelle (Chicopee, Mass.) would go on to collect for the Blazers burying a jumper from the field at the 7:43 marker. Elms would continue to produce an 11-5 run over the visiting Wildcats led by Marques totaling six including two from the charity stripe to send the Blazers into the locker room owning a 33-22 scoreboard.

Pressure was on at the start of the first with the Blazers leading by 10. The Wildcats struck first with a deep three off the hands of Briana Hochwarter (Attleboro, Mass.) to shrink their deficit to seven. From there Wheelock would produce another two with a Jaime Grzych (Columbia, Conn.) layup finding its place off the glass. The Blazers would respond with a seven point stint led by Pickett collecting two back to back layups to produce a 40-27 scoreboard. At the 1:12 marker Grzych would sink a double and head to the line for the extra basket off of a Heather Bailey (Williamstown, VT.) foul to give Wheelock a 30-42 score. With 35 seconds remaining Pickett would find a hole and put up a layup of her own to send Elms into the fourth ahead 46-30.

An offensive rebound would produce the first Wheelock basket of the quarter after Walsh buried a put back for the Wildcats. Woods would follow unveiling a jumper for another Wheelock two, in which LaRochelle would respond with a bullet of her own for Elms. The Blazers would continue on a 12- 2 run including a Pickett layup and bonus shot at the stripe, as well as a deep two off the hands of Kayla Aberdale (Housatonic, Mass.) to give Elms a 58-36 advantage with 3:16 remaining on the clock.  Hochwarter would go on to secure a jumper for two for the Wildcats, however it would not be enough as the Blazers maintained their pressure offensive and forced the play of the clock to nurse their lead to the final buzzer despite three consecutive three point bullets from the Wheelock squad within the last two minutes of action.

The Blazers were paced by Pickett who secured a double-double totaling a team high 15 points going 7-for-16 on the floor while collecting 12 rebounds. Brown collected 12 points on the night for Elms going 5-for-13 on the floor. 

The Wildcats were paced by game high scorer Hochwarter tallying 19 points and 5 rebounds. Corshia, Woods, and Grzych each totaled eight in the effort.  

The Blazers totaled 27.7% from the field (18-65), including 36.8% from the three-point line (7-19). The Wildcats shot 37.7% from the floor (23-61) and 60.0% from the foul line (12-20).

The Blazers will wrap the regular season with a NECC road trip to Bay Path University for a 1:00 p.m. tip at Holyoke Community College. Wheelock hosts Newbury in NECC action Saturday at Noon.

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