CHICOPEE, Mass. – Sophomore Mirella Funari (Phoenix, Ariz.) and first year Ava Shane (Plano, Texas) each scored 14 points to give Wellesley College basketball a 54-34  non-conference win against Elms College at Picknelly Arena on Tuesday night.

In addition to 14 points, Funari grabbed four steals for the Blue (3-4). Shane shot 5-for-7  with eight rebounds while junior Arla Hofer (Las Vegas, Nev.) pulled down nine rebounds. Wellesley held Elms to just 9-for-56 (16.1%) shooting from the field.

Sophomore Jade Lewis (Orlando, Fla.) led The Blazers (2-4) with 13 points and three steals. First year Mary Turco (Winthrop, Mass.) had nine points and eight boards and grad student Rahmia Johnston (Newtown, Conn.) earned four steals.

Wellesley set the tone with the first six points of the game, including a pair of Shane layups, over the opening 4:30. The Blue utilized late quarter offense to go up 15-4 after one frame. 

The Blazers won the second quarter scoring battle 14-9 to make the game 24-18 in Wellesley's favor at halftime. Lewis scored eight points in the quarter for Elms while Johnston added five. Shane finished the half with nine points and five boards for the Blue.

The Blue dominated a 15-3 third quarter to grow its lead to 18 (39-21) by the end of the third stanza. After an early Elms layup, Wellesley scored 15 of the next 16 points, punctuated by three Funari layups. 

Wellesley finished a 54-34 contest with a 15-13 fourth quarter. Sophomore Amanda Cheng (Shanghai, China) put a stamp on the victory with a late breakaway layup. The team had a season-best percentage, hitting 20-of-42 (47.6%) shots with 16 fast break points.

Next up, the Blue heads to Norwich University to face the Cadets in the opening round of the Ed Hockenbury Classic on Friday, December 6 at 5:00 PM. The Blazers will host Vermont State Lyndon at 6:30 PM on Thursday, December 5.