Women's Basketball Falls to Elms

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College women's basketball team dropped a 65-48 decision to Elms College on Saturday in New England Collegiate Conference play at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Maira Pantoja led all scorers with a career-high 19 points off the bench to pace the Blazers (3-4 overall, 3-0 NECC). JC Pickett recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds while Denisha Parks battled foul trouble and finished with 11 points in 21 minutes.

Amanda Garcia led Mitchell (1-5 overall, 1-2 NECC) with 16 points and added nine rebounds and a pair of blocks before fouling out. Diamond Thomas also finished in double digits with 13 points in 18 minutes.

Back-to-back jumpers by Thomas gave Mitchell a 4-0 lead in the opening minutes, but Elms quickly grabbed the lead behind five straight points from Pickett.

Neither side led by more than three over the first 10 minutes of the contest, but the Blazers changed that with 14 unanswered points to open up a 23-12 lead with 4:13 to go. Pantoja led the charge with eight points during the spurt that included a three-ball to cap the run.

Garcia cashed in on six straight free throws in the final 1:46 of the half as Mitchell closed the margin to 30-22 at the break. Pantoja hit all four of her shots in the stanza to lead Elms with 10 points while Garcia's 10 paced the Mariners.

Mitchell opened the second half with a three-point play by Thomas to make it a five-point game. However, Elms rallied to score the next seven points to bring the lead back to double digits, with Parks contributing five points during the stretch.

The Mariners never got any closer than eight the rest of the way. The Blazers led by as many as 21 points in the half and finished the game with a 30-12 edge in points in the paint.

Mitchell will next host Nichols College on Thursday, December 11 at 6 p.m. Elms returns to action at Bard College on Saturday, December 13 at 2 p.m.