CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Anna Maria College women's basketball team defeated the Blazers of Elm's College 65-51 in the 2015-16 season opener for both teams at Picknelly Arena Saturday afternoon. The AMCATS improve to 1-0 overall, while the Blazers fall to 0-1 on the season.

AMCAT LEADERS

ELMS LEADERS

Elms freshman Chaniah Pantry (New Haven, Conn.) kicked off her collegiate career with a double-double, notching a game-high 14 rebounds with 13 points. JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.)added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Mariah Brown (Windsor Locks, Conn.) grabbed eight rebounds with three points and three assists. Senior Maira Pantoja (East Windsor, Conn.) had seven points, and Burr chipped in six points and three rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The AMCATS led wire-to-wire, racing to an early 10-4 lead in the opening five minutes of play, behind four points from Gauvin. A layup from Brown at the 3:21 mark of the first quarter trimmed the Blazers deficit to 12-9. The AMCATS closed the first quarter on a 7-1 run to grab a 19-10 advantage.

Back-to-back layups from Elms junior Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) and Pickett pulled the Blazers within six, 20-14, until a 7-0 run by Anna Maria rebuilt a 27-14 advantage with 3:53 remaining in the half. A three-pointer from Burr at the 2:06 mark cut the Elms deficit to single digits, but a three-point play from Gauvin closed the half with Anna Maria leading 31-20.

The AMCATS maintained their momentum into the third quarter, and a layup from freshmanShannon Hofmiller (Oxford, Conn.) gave the AMCATS their largest lead of the game, 40-21, with 7:08 on the clock. A pair of free throws from Pantry and a pair of layup from Pickett made it a 46-31 game, as Anna Maria ended the third quarter with a 51-33 advantage.

In the final frame of action, Pantry and Pickett worked together to whittle the Blazers deficit to 51-39 in the opening three minutes. The AMCATS answered the Blazers late rallies, preventing Elms from lowering their deficit to single digits over the final minutes of play to lock up the 65-51 win.

FINAL COMPARISON

Anna Maria generated 28 points off Blazer turnovers on the night. Both teams scored an even 30 points in the paint despite the Blazers 50-42 edge over the AMCATS on the glass during the contest. The AMCATS came up with 13 steals to Elms five while the Elms bench outscored the AMCATS bench, 22-9.

WHAT'S NEXT

Anna Maria hosts Salem State in non-conference action Tuesday at 1:00 p.m., while Elms will return to the court with a non-conference road trip to Castleton Wednesday evening with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off