Women's Basketball Loses a Tough Match Against the Monks

CHICOPEE, MA - The Elms College Women's Basketball team hosted the Monks of St. Joseph's College, Maine in conference action and for their Leukemia Night on Saturday afternoon.

BASICS

Score: Elms College 57 | Regis College 80

Records: Blazers 9-8, 3-3 (GNAC) | Monks 10-7, 6-0 (GNAC)

LEUKEMIA NIGHT

The Elms College Women's and Men's Basketball teams came together with Team Ava to host their 2024 Leukemia Awareness Game: PLAY4LLS in honor of 5 year-old Ava from Sutton, MA who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on March 14th. Her aunt Johanna Annunziata has been nominated as a candidate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Visionary of the Year. Today, the two programs honored Ava and raised awareness for LLS, a non-profit that is a global leader in the fight against blood cancer. All of the proceeds made from the concession stand today were donated towards Team Ava's fundraising goal of $105,000 for an LLS initiative called "Dare to Dream" which will help transform treatment and care for childhood cancer. During the playing of the National Anthem, players and coaches from Elms College held signs with the names of those they played for today.

If you would like to donate, please click the link below.

Team Ava's GoFundMe

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first quarter would start in the favor of St. Joseph's College, but Elms College would respond with a layup from first-year Jade Lewis (Orlando, FL), followed by senior Rahmia Johnston (Trumbull, CT) putting away a three-point shot (assisted by Lewis). Moments later, Johnston would complete a three-point play by making a layup, following a steal from sophomore Jenny Gorksi (Vernon, CT), and making a free throw. Johnston would make another layup to inch the Blazers closer to the Monks' lead of 12-10, but St. Joseph's would hold their lead to 19-12.

The second quarter would begin similarly to the previous quarter, until first-year Soliyana Asfaw (West Orange, NJ) made a three-point shot (assisted by a graduate student Julianne Liebow) to help Elms narrow the lead. Moments later, Johnston would sink another three-point shot from Asfaw to cut the lead to 18-32. Then with under a minute in the half, Liebow would hit a jump shot off a pass from graduate student Brianna Metallus (Springfield, MA). The Monks would again hold their lead going into halftime at 46-22.

During the opening moments of the third quarter, Liebow made a steal, passed the ball to Lewis, she would pass the ball back to Liebow, and finished the play with a three-point shot of her own. St. Joseph's would continue to add to their lead over Elms, but Johnston making a steal, sinking a jump shot and Asfaw drilling a three-point shot of her own to keep the lead down to 26-points. A couple of minutes later, Liebow would make another steal and find Asfaw open for another three-point shot. But as the third quarter drew to a close, the Monks would have a 62-35 lead.

The final quarter began with both sides contesting over the ball for the inaugural minutes. Midway through the quarter, Asfaw would find Metellus open to make her first three-point shot of the day. Two minutes later, after gaining possession, the Blazers would drive their way down the court and Lewis would find an open Liebow and make her second three-pointer of the day. As the quarter began to end, Metellus would find Lewis open to make another three-point shot, followed by another three-point play by Johnston, and a steal from Lewis that would lead to a breakaway layup from Asfaw. Even with the burst, the Monks would hold off the Blazers winning 80-57.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Johnston would lead Elms by scoring 21 points.

• Lewis would lead the Blazers with 7 rebounds.

• Metallus and Liebow would both record a team leading three steals.

• Liebow would also record the team's lone block of the game.

UP NEXT: The Elms Women's Basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 24th hosting the Albertus Magnus College Falcons in game one of a doubleheader at 5PM.

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