CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's basketball came up shy of collecting their first victory over visiting Regis College, falling to the Pride, 49-47, in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) matchup at Picknelly Arena Saturday afternoon. The Blazers move to 6-8 on the season, and 5-2 in conference play, while Regis remains undefeated in conference play at 7-0, and 11-2 overall.
The Blazers opened with a strong first quarter, racing to a 9-6 lead behind seven points from junior Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) in the opening six minutes of play. Elms closed the period on a 7-3 run, capped off by a three-pointer from freshman Kayla Aberdale (Housatonic, Mass.) to give the Blazers a 16-9 lead after the first quarter of play.
A put back rebound from Elms senior JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) gave the Blazers their largest lead of the game, 18-9, with 8:51 left in the second quarter. The Pride battled back during the remainder of the period, fueled by seven points from Regis sophomore Brittany Stone (West Bridgewater, Mass.) to cut the Elms advantage to 23-22 at the half.
Regis outscored Elms 8-2 over the opening four minutes of the third quarter to grab a 30-25 lead. The Blazers trimmed the deficit behind four points from sophomore Mackenzie LaRochelle (Chicopee, Mass.), and then pulled ahead on free throws from Pickett and Burr to control the scoreboard 37-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Blazers pushed their lead to 41-36 on back-to-back buckets from Pickett and senior Mariah Brown (Windsor Locks, Conn.) with 8:58 to play. Regis fought back with a 7-2 run to knot the score at 43-43, and a three-point play from junior Amanda Hawkesworth (Abington, Mass.) handed the Pride a 46-43 lead. Following a free throw from Stone to put the Pride up 49-47, the Blazers had a chance to tie or win the game in on the final possession, but Regis forced a turnover to secure the 49-47 lead.
Brown led the Blazers with a season-high 15 points, three rebounds and three assists. Burr netted 13 points with five rebounds, while Pickett grabbed 11 rebounds with six points and a game-high five blocks. Junior Alexandra Marques (Newington, Conn.) pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds with two blocks.
The Pride were paced by Stone with a double-double effort, posting game-high in points (16) and rebounds (13), along with four blocks. Hawkesworth tallied eight points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Shannon Hayes (Billerica, Mass.) had nine points and four rebounds.
The Blazers and Pride were even in the rebounding category at 45 boards apiece. Elms converted 30.2% (16-of-53) from the floor, including 20% (2-of-10) from three-point range, and 59.1% (13-of-22) from the foul line. Regis shot 29.3% (17-of-58) from the field, 9.1% (1-of-11) from three-point, and 60.9% (14-of-23) from the free throw stripe.
The Blazers travel to Southern Vermont for an NECC matchup Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. Regis heads to Lesley for an NECC tilt Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.
Release Courtesy of Elms College Sports Information