CHICOPEE, Mass. - Regis College put up its highest point total of the season, defeating Elms College, 74-52, Saturday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's basketball game at the Maguire Center.
Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.) led the Pride in scoring with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting, including 3-for-4 from behind the three-point line, along with 10 rebounds and four assists. Arie Searcy (Santa Rosa, Calif.) added 14 points and eight rebounds while Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.) contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Courtney Doherty (Willimantic, Conn.) had 12 points and seven assists, while Olivia Pacheco (Waterford, Conn.) added 10 points and five rebounds coming off the bench.
Elms struck first with a quick layup to start off the contest, but Regis answered back with a three-pointer from Gonzalez. The teams went back and forth with Elms taking a 9-8 lead, its final lead of the game. Consecutive layups from Searcy and Pacheco regained the lead for the Pride, and Regis finished the first quarter ahead, 18-14.
The Pride wasted no time extending their lead in the second quarter, going on a 16-5 run to take a 34-19 lead with 2:19 remaining in the first half. Elms managed to make up some ground, scoring the final four points to end the half trailing 34-23.
In the second half, Regis pushed its advantage, extending the lead to 55-41 in the third quarter with Doherty scoring a pair of layups to end the period. In the fourth quarter, a layup by Whalen capped off the scoring to give Regis its largest lead of the game.
The Pride shot 32-for-70 (45.7 percent) from the field while Elms shot 20-for-56 (35.7 percent). The Pride outrebounded their opponent 40-27, scoring 16 points on second chance opportunities. They also won the turnover game, scoring 20 points off 16 Blazer turnovers. Regis committed only eight turnovers, the fewest in a single game in exactly two years as the Pride turned the ball over just eight times at Rhode Island College Jan. 22, 2020.
McKenzie Huria led the Blazers in scoring with 16 points while Rahmia Johnston added 12 points.
Regis College (5-6, 4-1 GNAC) heads to Boston to face Emmanuel College Monday, Jan. 24, beginning at 7 p.m.