Women's Basketball Comes Up Short at Elms

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's basketball team held on for a 60-51 victory over visiting Mitchell College on Saturday afternoon in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) matchup at Picknelly Arena.

The Blazers won for the third straight time out and improved to 4-3 overall (2-0 NECC). Mitchell dropped to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in league play.

Both offenses started out slow, though a 7-2 run by the Blazers yiedled a 10-5 advantage with 3:28 remaining in the opening quarter. The Mariners chipped away at the deficit behind a 6-1 run, featuring four points from junior Jessica Shepherd, to knot the game at 11-11, until a last second layup from Chaniah Pantry gave the Blazers a 13-11 lead heading into the second quarter.

A jumper from senior Amanda Garcia gave the Mariners a 15-13 lead at the 8:10 mark of the second stanza. The Blazers regained a 22-17 lead with a 9-2 run, powered by three-point efforts by Emily Burr and Alexandra Marques, but the Mariners tied things up at 22-22 on a bucket from freshman Kate McCormack. 

The Blazers, who led by one at the break, built a 33-26 lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Leading 33-30 with 5:20 left in the quarter, Elms pulled away with a 14-5 run, helmed by seven points from Burr, and closed the period with a 47-35 lead.

Pantry converted a jumper in the paint to give the Blazers their largest lead of the game, 51-35, with 8:28 remaining in the contest. The Mariners whittled the deficit to single digits behind a 14-4 run, powered by six points from Shepherd, to make it a 55-49 game. Forced to foul down the stretch, the Mariners came up short as Kayla Aberdale converted five of six free throw attempts to lock up the win for the Blazers.

Burr led the Blazers offense with a team-high 14 points and eight rebounds. Aberdale matched a career-high with 11 points and three rebounds off the bench, while Marques snared a game-high 13 rebounds with six points. Pantry notched eight points and five rebounds, and Maira Pantoja added seven points.

Shepherd poured in a game-high 18 points with six rebounds for the Mariners. Senior Diamond Thomas tallied 12 points and five rebounds while Garcia came off the bench to add seven rebounds and six points.

Mitchell will next host Trinity College in non-conference action on Tuesday, December 8 at 7:00 p.m.