CHICOPEE, Mass. — Natasha Rivera (Ansonia, Conn.) netted a season-high 17 points in her sixth contest with double figures to lead the Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team to an 82-64 triumph over Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponent Elms College on Wednesday.

The win was the third straight for the Falcons, who have also won 11 of their last 12 games.

Five Falcons recorded double-figures as Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.) Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.), Diamond White (Hamden, Conn.) and Sarah Evangelista (West Haven, Conn.) contributed a combined 54 points as the Falcons extended their win streak to three.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Albertus Magnus 82 | Elms 64

RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (15-4, 7-1 GNAC) | Elms (9-9, 3-4 GNAC)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Scott captured a defensive board capped off with a driving layup to put the Falcons on the board and ignited a 12-2 Albertus run in the first quarter. Albertus led by as much as 12 in the first quarter and took a 25-15 lead after the first quarter.
• Elms trimmed the Albertus lead to six points on two different occasions in the second quarter, the final time with 2:19 left when it was a 33-27 game. The Falcons closed with an 8-2 run to lead 41-29 at the half.
• Elms rallied late in the third quarter to narrow the deficit to five, 45-40, with a layup from Talia Uribe. The Falcons then closed with a 9-3 run to close the frame as Rivera scored six points in the final 2:59.
• The Blazers trimmed the lead once again down to six points with 8:02 left in the fourth. A three from Evangelista capped a 7-0 run and Albertus took a 64-51 lead.
• A three from White closed the door on any opportunity for Elms to come back as she made it a 78-61 game with 1:53 left. Murray-Leach finished with eight points in the final quarter, and Evangelista, seven.
• Albertus outscored the Blazers in the paint 36-20 and capitalized on 18 points off turnovers, while Elms recorded 11. The Falcons dominated the hardwood with 22 fastbreak points and the home team mustered five. Coming off the bench, Evangelista ran the court with 13 of the 16 bench points for Albertus. Jenny Gorski and Soliyana Asfaw combined for Elms 12 bench points with six each.

TEAM STATS

Albertus 43.5 FG% | 34.4 3PT% | 73.3 FT%

Elms 31.1 FG% | 26.9 3PT% | 79.2 FT%

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

Albertus

Natasha Rivera 17 Points | 5 Rebounds | 3 Steals | 3 Blocks

Caitlyn Scott 16 Points | 4 Rebounds | 5 Assists | 4 Steals

Jakara Murray-Leach 12 Points | 7 Rebounds | 4 Assists | 3 Blocks

Elms

Rahmia Johnston 17 Points | 10 Rebounds | 2 Assists | 3 Steals

Talia Uribe 13 Points | 5 Rebounds | 1 Assist | 3 Blocks

Julianne Liebow 8 Points | 4 Rebounds | 3 Assists | 1 Steal

NOTEWORTHY

• Murray-Leach inches into the tenth spot all-time in scoring in program history with 1,276 career points. This season she is shooting a career-high 50.4 from the field.
• Albertus is now 13-0 when shooting over 80 points in a game and the Falcons' 12th double-digit victory this season.
• The team leads the all-time series, 15-1, with 15 consecutive victories since 1993.
• Elms never led in the game, and the lone tie was at 2-2.

UP NEXT

The Falcons host conference rival Norwich University on January 27 with a 1 p.m. matchup in The Nest at the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.