CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) scored 15 of her game-high 27 points in the second half to lead the Blazers to a 69-53 victory over Lesley University in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action. The win puts Elms over the .500 mark, standing at 9-2 on the year, and moves them to 8-2 in NECC play. The Lynx fall to 2-14 overall and 1-9 in conference play.
Parks was 10-of-14 from the field and added a team-high ten rebounds to record the double-double. Sophomore guard Gianna Youngblood (East Freetown, Mass.) added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Blazers while classmate JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) had a solid night with eight points, eight rebounds, and a team-high three steals.
For the Lynx, sophomore Anthea Rathjens (Sudbury, Mass.) led the way with her second straight double-double with ten points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Tori Hoefs (Avalon, Calif.) was great off the bench, chipping in with 10 points and four steals while going 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Freshman Shannon Baker (Lynnbrook, NY) knocked down three from deep and finished with 11 points on the night.
Baker scored eight of her 11 in the opening four minutes of the game, helping the Lynx get out to a 10-4 advantage. From there the Blazers went on a 13-0 run to claim a lead they would not give up. Nine of the Blazers points came from the free throw line during the run.
Elms would extend their first half lead to twelve, but the Lynx battled back with a 5-2 run in the final 1:02, capped off by a Sarah Apgar (Andover, NJ) free throw, cutting the lead to nine heading into halftime.
The Blazers opened the second half on a 15-5 run to give them a commanding 19-point advantage as they cruised to the 69-53 win.
Most of Elms points came close to the basket as they had 40 points in the paint and shot 39.3% for the game.
The Lynx shot 20-of-24 from the free throw line while the Blazers went 19-22.
Lesley returns to action on Wednesday, January 29th when they play host to Daniel Webster College. Tip-off is set for 8pm. Elms is back at it on Tuesday, January 28th when they travel to Bay Path College for a 7:00p game.
