BROOKLINE, Mass. – Elms College freshman forward Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) led all scorers with 26 points and added a game-high 21 rebounds, but Newbury College had three players score 18 points to help pace the Nighthawks to a 77-63 win in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball game at Hellenic College in Brookline, Mass.

With the loss, Elms sees its seven-game win-streak snapped and falls to 14-6 overall, 11-2 in NECC action, while Newbury improves 11-9 on the season, 9-4 in league play.

With the score set at 18-10 with 8:57 to play in the first half, Morganna Machado (Attleboro, Mass.) converted a layup that sparked a 15-3 run over the next 5:09 to give the Nighthawks a 33-13 cushion and its largest lead of the first half.  

Elms scored 11 of the next 17 points capped by a pair of Parks free throws to cut the Blazers' deficit to 15 points (39-24) at intermission.

In the opening 20 minutes Newbury connected on 17 of 41 shots from the field (41.5-percent) including three three-pointers and took advantage of poor shooting by Elms (21.2-percent) to build its 15-point edge at halftime.

In the second frame, Parks scored 13 points, senior forward Erika Murphy (Torrington, Conn.) added 10 points and sophomore guard Ellen Donohue (Southington, Conn.) netted eight points as the Blazers twice clawed back to within nine points on buckets by Murphy at the 5:25 mark and again at the 3:25 mark to set the score at 72-63.

From there, the Nighthawks hit on five of six free throws including two each from Nephie Marsh (Brockton, Mass.) and Kendra Bannister (Washington, D.C.) to help Newbury pull away to its 77-63 victory.

Murphy finished with 13 points and 16 rebounds, while Donohue added 10 points in the losing effort.

Newbury's Catherine O'Connell (Quincy, Mass.) poured in 18 points, dished out five assists and hauled in a team-high 20 rebounds, while Machado and Shayla White (Dorchester, Mass.) struck for 18 points apiece. Marsh added 14 points, while Machado grabbed nine boards in the winning effort.

Elms returns to NECC action on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at Southern Vermont College at 8:00 p.m.