Women's Basketball Thumps Lesley On The Road

Kaleigh Anderson (@KaleighAnd1)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Elms College women's basketball squad pushed past Lesley College, 69-52, in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) tilt Thursday evening at the Nichols Athletic Center. With the win, the Blazers rise to 6-6 overall and 4-2 in the NECC, while the Lynx drop to 2-4 in conference play, and 3-9 on the season.

The Lynx were first to crack the scoreboard during the opening frame as freshman Dakota Jones (Torrance, Calif.) sent one home off the glass. From there, Elms would sprint on to a 14-4 stint headed by senior Alexandra Marques (Newington, Conn.) with six points inside the paint. Elms sophomore Kayla Aberdale (Housatonic, Mass.) would secure the first Blazer three of the contest at the 4:56 mark to continue to raise momentum as the Blazers soared into the second quarter holding a 21-10 advantage leaving the floor after a freshmen Molly Moulton (North Adams, Mass.) three-point blast found its home.

Elms freshman Kayla Soto (New Britain, Conn.) started off the scoring efforts in the second netting a tally from the stripe to continue to raise the Blazer lead. Marques and senior Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) posted back-to-back layups to keep the Lynx at bay. Jones responded for Lesley producing two layups of her own off the glass to keep hope. The Blazers continued to lengthen their lead with Marques and Burr leading the charge as they each notched double figures onto the scoreboard before halftime, sending Elms into the locker room owning a 41-20 advantage.

The third saw tremendous effort from the Lynx as they embarked on a 7-to-2 stint headed by junior Theresa Pereira's (Hopedale, Mass.) three point play after an Elms foul sent her to the stripe for the extra tally. Burr converted on a layup of her own to light up the scoreboard along with a tack at the line to keep the Elms lead strong. Lesley senior Emily Meade (Derry, N.H.) closed out the scoring efforts for the Lynx with 35 seconds remaining as she captured a post off the glass to send the contest into the fourth with a 50-36 Elms scoreboard.

The fourth saw back and forth play off the hands of both squads with the Blazers rising to the occasion to maintain the advantage. Marques struck first for Elms followed by another Burr three point production to secure a 55-38 score. Soto would contribute a quick four points after a layup and two tallies at the stripe saw nothing but net to keep energy high. Despite the Lynx 8-to-2 stint starting at the 2:26 time slot Elms would ultimately win the contest off of a 69-52 scoreboard.

The Blazers had two scorers in double figures, led by Marques, who logged her seventh double-double of the season with a team-high 22 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Burr netted 16 points and dished out a team high four assists in the effort.

Jones paced the Lynx in the effort capturing a double-double posting a team high 20 points and 16 rebounds. Meade posted 10 points off the bench for Lesley while securing six rebounds.

The Blazers edged the Lynx in rebounds (43-41) and bench points (15-11) during the contest. Elms connected on 40.6% (26-64) from the field and 25.0% (3-12) from the free throw line. Lesley shot 35.6% (21-59) from the floor and 41.7% (10-24) from the free throw stripe.

The Blazers will look to remain in the win column when they travel to Regis for an NECC matchup January 14^th for a 1:00p.m. start time. The Lynx will travel to Mitchell College January 14^th for a 3 p.m. start time.  

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