Dominant Start Fuels Big Win For Women's Hoops Over Lesley

CHICOPEE, Mass. -- The Elms College women's basketball team put together a dominant first quarter and never looked back on Tuesday night, picking up a 62-47 New England Collegiate Conference win over Lesley in Picknelly Arena.

The Blazers (10-8, 6-5 NECC) led the Lynx 23-2 after the opening 10 minutes and never trailed in the game. Elms held Lesley (1-16, 1-10 NECC) to just 1-for-12 shooting in the quarter and forced six turnovers without committing one. Elms also out-rebounded the Lynx 17-10 in the quarter and Lesley hurt its own cause by going 0-for-4 at the free throw line.

Angelic Peguero-Flores (Springfield, Mass.) led Elms with 18 points and 15 rebounds. She went 9-for-22 from the field and grabbed seven of her board on the offensive end. Molly Moulton (North Adams, Mass.) added nine points for Elms and Regina LeBlanc (Enfield, Conn.) finished with four points and seven rebounds. Thirteen different players scored for the balanced Blazer offense, including eight who scored four or more points.

Dakota Jones (Torrance, Calif.) led all scorers with 25 points for Lesley and added 14 rebounds. Karyn McEvoy (Quincy, Mass.) added 12 points for Lesley and Sarah Tobin (Amesbury, Mass.) had 13 rebounds and four blocked shots to go with two points.

Lesley hit 9-of-16 shots in the fourth quarter and held Elms to just 1-of-19 shooting in the fourth quarter to out-shoot the Blazers for the game, 33.9 percent to 30.4 percent, but it was too little, too late. Elms won the battle on the glass, 54-50 and forced Lesley into 23 turnovers while only giving up nine. The Lynx were also hindered by a 6-for-20 performance at the free throw line, where Elms connected on 13-of-22 attempts.
Lesley returns to action on Saturday at Newbury while Elms has a week off before hosting Eastern Nazarene on Jan. 29.