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Blazers women’s basketball advances to NECC Final Four

Date: 2/27/2015

CHICOPEE – The Elms College women's basketball team advanced to their fourth consecutive New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) semifinal with an 86-48 thumping of visiting Daniel Webster College in the first round of the NECC Women’s Basketball Tournament at Picknelly Arena Tuesday evening.

The Eagles raced to an early 6-0 lead, but the Blazers battled back with a 12-2 run, fueled by four-point efforts from seniors Denisha Parks and JC Pickett (Chicopee), to capture a 12-8 lead. Daniel Webster tied the game at 14-14 on a layup from junior Ashley England with 10:42 left in the half. Elms regained control with 14-4 run over the next seven minutes to grab a 28-18 lead at the 3:56 mark. Elms outscored the Eagles, 10-6, to close the frame with a 38-24 lead.

The Blazers continued their momentum in the second half, opening the period on a 12-3 run, capped off by a three-pointer from sophomore Emily Burr with 16:36 on the clock. Elms maintained a 20-point lead over the next six minutes with a layup from freshman Mackenzie Larochelle (Chicopee) extending the Blazers lead to 64-33 with 10:25 to play. The squads exchanged buckets for the next three minutes until a 9-0 run built the Elms lead to 81-44. A free throw from Larochelle at the 2:24 mark gave the Blazers their largest lead, 84-46, en route to the 86-48 victory for Elms.

"I thought it was a great team effort today," said Elms head coach Michelle Proulx. "I thought defensive we really stepped up. [Daniel Webster] are a tough matchup for us, they have talented, quick guards, but I thought we stepped up and played well as a team defensively. After the first four or five minutes, we started to play together more defensive, and that helped our offense come easier. The thing we've struggled with is guarding quick guards, so this playing this game was a little scary for us. Our help defense was a lot better today, but it was lacking some possessions, so not taking possession off is something we'll work on. We're pretty young, but we do have veterans who have [been to the final four], so it will be good to have our veterans and they can relax everyone else. I think it's pretty good that I've been there before as well, so we don't get overwhelmed by things. Once we know who we'll play, it will be time to prepare. Sharing the ball offensive will be key for us, and as always our defense. If we can play defensive like we showed most of tonight, we can play with anybody in our conference. If we keep doing that, we'll be competitive this weekend."

The Blazers had four scorers reach double digits, including a pair of double-doubles. Parks was a force for the Blazers, pouring in a game-high 27 points with a game-high 20 rebounds. Pickett notched a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while senior Gianna Youngblood chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Burr added 11  points, and junior Mariah Brown  dished out five assists with six points and three rebounds.

England paced the Eagles offensively with a team-best 18 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Kayla Free tallied 11 points with seven rebounds. Freshman Nicole Beard had eight points, and junior Natalie Nagle grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the loss.

The Blazers dominated the glass, 67-34, during the contest. Elms recorded 21 second-chance points, and outscored the Eagles in the paint, 46-28. The Blazers connected on 46.1 percent (35-of-76) from the floor, including 41.7 percent (5-of-12) from three-point range, and 50 percent (11-of-22) from the foul line.

The Blazers improved to 17-8 on the season, while Daniel Webster wraps the season at 7-18 overall. Elms moves onto the semifinals to face three-seed Southern Vermont Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. at Regis College.