Fitchburg State Edges Women's Basketball

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's basketball team suffered an 86-77 non-conference loss to the visiting Fitchburg State Falcons Tuesday night at Picknelly Arena.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 86, Elms 77

Records: Fitchburg State (3-2), Elms (1-5)

How It Happened

Play was tight early in the first half until a layup from junior Niah Pantry (New Haven, Conn.) handed the Blazers a 12-7 lead with 3:37 left in the first quarter. The Falcons grabbed control with a 15-2 run, featuring five points from Mikala Malboeuf, to close the quarter with a 22-14 lead.

The Blazers worked at the deficit in the second quarter as senior Mackenzie LaRochelle (Chicopee, Mass.) and sophomore Molly Moulton (North Adams, Mass.) provided four-point efforts to trim the Falcons lead to 27-24 at the 6:14 mark. Fitchburg State used an 11-4 run over the next two-plus minutes to rebuild a 38-28 lead. Mishelle Logie knocked down a late three-pointer to send the Falcons into halftime with a 43-35 lead.

The sides battled back-and-forth throughout the third quarter with a pair of free throws from LaRochelle pulling the Blazers within eight points, 55-47. The Falcons kept Elms at bay, outscoring the Blazers, 8-4, in the final minutes of the third to take a 63-51 lead.

Elms opened the final period with buckets from freshman Regina LeBlanc (Enfield, Conn.) and sophomore Kayla Soto (New Haven, Conn.) to make it 63-55. The Falcons pushed their lead back to double digits, 69-56, on a jumper from Michaela McTomney at the 7:44 mark. A baseline drive from Moulton whittled the gap to 75-66 with 4:14 to play, but the Falcons held on an as trey from Mitchell at the 1:46 mark push Fitchburg State to the 86-77 win.

Inside The Numbers

• The Blazers shot 30-of-85 from the field, with only one three-pointer, and 16-of-30 from the foul line, while the Falcons connected on 29-of-74 from the floor, including 8-of-26 from three-point, and 20-of-28 from the charity stripe.
• The Falcons had five scorers in double figures, paced by a team-high 18 points from Angelina Marazzi. LaRochelle fueled the Blazers with a game-high 22 points, while Pantry logged a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 18 rebounds.
• The Falcons edged the Blazers on the glass, 56-55, and in points off the bench, 25-13, while both sides generated 21 points off turnovers.

Up Next

The Blazers will host Becker College in their New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opener at Picknelly Arena Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Fitchburg State travels to UMass-Boston for a non-conference clash Thursday at 5:30 p.m.