Basketball Beats Elms, 61-46

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Devon Diliberto (Waterbury, Conn.) had 17 points, seven steals and six assists and Heather Framski (Prospect, Conn.) had her third consecutive double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds as the University of Saint Joseph basketball team defeated Elms 61-46 Saturday in a non-conference game at the O'Connell Center.

St. Joseph improved to 6-4 overall; Elms is 4-6.

USJ scored the first 11 points of the game and after a 27-all halftime tie, the first 14 of the second half and survived two spirited comeback bids by Elms.

Diliberto scored five early points and Brianna Ferraro (Waterbury, Conn.) four while Elms went 0-for-5 with five turnovers on its first 10 possessions as USJ raced out to an 11-0 advantage after five minutes.

Elms slowly got back into the game and took its first lead with 1:32 left in the half at 25-24 on a free throw by JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.). Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) added a layup for Elms with 49 seconds left to stretch the Blazers lead to three, but Diliberto gave the Blue Jays a huge lift heading into the locker room by making a half-court, buzzer-beating three-pointer to tie the score.

Framski scored eight of the Blue Jays' first 14 points of the second half as USJ took command at 41-27 with 13 minutes to play. Again Elms battled back and got within 49-42 on a layup from Burr with 5:49 left. But Lindsey Dionne (Portland, Conn.) scored six points down the stretch for USJ and Elms would get no closer.

Denisha Parks (Fall River, Mass.) had 16 points and 15 rebounds for Elms; Pickett had nine points and a game-high 19 rebounds and Burr had 10 points and seven boards. Mary Hyde (Derby, Conn.) had eight points, 10 rebounds and five assists for USJ.

St. Joseph hosts Trinity College in a non-conference game Mon. Jan. 6 at 6 p.m.