Women’s Basketball Tops Elms for Seventh-Straight Win

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team cruised to a 76-58 victory over Elms Tuesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions improve to 7-1 on the season and 3-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) with the win. The Blazers fall to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in league action with the result.

Jenn Burnham (West Valley City, Utah) poured in a game-high 25 points off the bench while adding six rebounds and three steals. Kyra Fleharty (Lewistown, Mont.) notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to go with three rejections. Courtney Barba (Pismo Beach, Calif.) finished with nine points and five boards. Tia Torio (Manteca, Calif.) recorded eight points, eight rebounds, and five assists on the night.

The hosts engineered a stellar start with eight consecutive points out of the chute to establish an 8-0 lead 4:30 into the contest.

Eastern Nazarene extended its advantage to 15-2 with 2:43 left to play in the first quarter as Fleharty splashed a trey before banking in a layup.

The Lions owned a 19-9 lead at the conclusion of the opening frame.

Eastern Nazarene widened the margin to 18 points with eight minutes remaining in the second, 27-9, on a layup by Torio.

Elms trimmed the deficit to 32-24 as Kayla Aberdale drilled a three-pointer with 1:29 to go in the first half.

The Lions clung to a 36-26 edge at the break after both squads netted 17 points in the second quarter.

Eastern Nazarene shot 35.9% from the floor in the first half to go with 2-of-5 shooting from behind the arc. Elms posted a field-goal percentage of 33.3% at the break while connecting on 2-of-3 from three-point range.

Fleharty and Burnham both tallied eight first-half points while Torio notched four points, four assist, and five rebounds.

The Blazers pulled to within eight on their second possession of the third period, 36-28, on a basket by Regina LeBlanc.

The home side pushed its lead to 15 points with less than four minutes left to play in the third as Fleharty completed a three-point play from the charity stripe, 50-35.

Eastern Nazarene sported a 17-point advantage heading into the fourth frame after Burnham capped off the third quarter with a steal-and-score, 60-43.

The Lions stretched their lead to 19 as Burnham knocked down a jumper on the team's first possession of the fourth.

Elms cut the gap to 11 with 5:13 left to play in regulation after a six straight free throws, 64-53.

Eastern Nazarene claimed its largest lead of the game, 76-56, as Burnham chalked up five points in a row followed by a three-pointer by Shante Slender (Kayente, Ariz.) with 1:40 remaining.

The hosts limited the visitors to just one field goal in the fourth quarter as the Blazers scored 13 of the squad's 15 points in the period from the free throw line.

The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 41.4% while going 3-for-8 from long distance. The Blazers shot 28.8% from the floor on the night and 40% from beyond the arc.

Molly Moulton led Elms with 15 points while Aberdale chipped in with 12 off the bench.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene travels to New England College December 6 for a crucial conference clash.