WESTON, Mass. – Regis College overcame a 10 point first half deficit to rally past Elms College, 72-63, on Saturday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference women's basketball action in Weston, Mass. The Pride improve to 9-4 overall and 7-0 in the NECC, while Elms drops to 8-6 and 6-1 in league games.
Regis extends its regular season NECC winning-streak to 61 games, and was pushed to the limit to earn the win in a rematch of the previous two NECC Championship games.
The Pride had four players score in double-figures led by 16 points and six rebounds from Amanda Hawkesworth (Abington, Mass.). Brittany Stone (West Bridgewater, Mass.) netted 14 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Teresa Busiek (Arlington, Mass.) and Emilee Marro (Bedford, N.H.) each chipped in 13 points, with Marro adding a game-high seven assists.
Elms was paced by Denisha Park's (Fall River, Mass.) 25 points, while Mariah Brown (Windsor Locks, Conn.) added 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists. JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) added seven points and eight rebounds, and Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) had seven points of her own.
Regis held a 14-13 lead with 11:58 to play in the half following a Busiek layup on the break. Elms responded with a 14-3 run over the next five-plus minutes and grabbed a 27-17 advantage with 6:40 to play. Denisha Parks scored six points during the run, with Pickett, Brown, Burr, and Mackenzie Larochelle (Chicopee, Mass.) also adding scores.
The Pride began to chip away by getting to the charity stripe, with Marro and Janaya Bradley (New Haven, Conn.) each hitting a pair to cut the deficit to six. Bradley continued her strong play, scoring the next two buckets for the Pride and making it a 27-25 game with 4:04 to play, before tying the game at 27-all with two more freethrows. Mariah Brown answered with a layup and Elms ended the half with a 5-2 run to take a 32-28 advantage into the break.
An Emilee Marro back door layup tied the game at 38-all early in the second half, but Emily Burr connected on a triple to give Elms a 41-38 lead. The two teams traded baskets and a Parks layup at the 13:41 mark put Elms in front 46-42. Teresa Busiek knocked down a three to cut it to one, and sparking a 13-2 run to put Regis on top 55-48 with 7:52 to play.
As they had done all day, the two teams traded scores until Murphy followed up a Marro miss on the fastbreak to put Regis ahead 63-54 with 5:16 remaining. Elms cut the deficit to five twice, including on a Parks layup with 1:35 to play, but the Pride knocked down their freethrows down the stretch and held on for a 72-63 win.
Elms won the rebounding battle, 36-32, but committed 24 turnovers, leading to 19 points for the Pride. Elms shot an efficient 44.9% (22-of-49) from the field compared to just 39.3% (22-of-56) shooting for Regis. The difference in the game came at the charity stripe as the Pride knocked down 27-of-33 freebies, and Elms hit 18-of-24.
The Crimson and Gold return to action on Wednesday night when they host Lesley University at 6:00 p.m. Elms will take on Southern Vermont College on Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m.