Strong bench performance pushes Lions past Fisher

by Tyler Deffebach / Beacon Correspondent • February 14, 2013

Junior Elissa Chonjnicki led Emerson's to a blowout victory.
Junior Elissa Chonjnicki led Emerson's to a blowout victory.

Emerson College: 96
Fisher College: 53

After coming off the bench on Sunday, Elissa Chonjnicki, a junior guard, sprinted ahead on a fast break and, with one minute left in the first half, converted a wide-open layup — extending Emerson’s point total to 51 in a game where the Lion’s bench dominated the competition.

Emerson’s reserves outscored Fisher College’s bench 51-0, helping the Lions achieve a commanding victory. Emerson never trailed Fisher, ending the game with a final score of 96-53.

“Everyone got a ton of minutes today,” said Chonjnicki, a marketing communication major. “And we played smart basketball, we didn’t dig ourselves into a hole and have had to fight back like we have in previous games, so it was a nice win.”

In the first half alone, Emerson’s substitutes scored 29 points, outscoring Fisher’s entire first half total of 28 points.

“Sometimes there are games where we are just clearly physically superior,” said head coach Bill Gould. “But the kids did a great job in keeping focus in a game that most of us knew we were going to win.”

The Lion’s bench scored 21 points above its season average of 30 points per game. As a result, the team, overall, scored 33.4 points above its season average of 62.6 points per game.

Emerson’s reserves also took more shots than the starters: The bench put up 42 field goal attempts, compared to the starters’ 38. The backups also converted more field goals (22) compared to 17 by the starters.

Janissa Delzo, a freshman guard and a journalism major, said that staying composed in blowout games is important.

“We did not play down to their level, which was important to the team,” Delzo said. “We kept our mentality and kept going at it. And when you do that against this type of opponent, you usually put up big numbers.”

Emerson improved to a 12-11overall, giving the Lions a winning record for the first time since the team’s 2-0 start, and extended their winning streak to six games.

The team’s last regular season game is Saturday at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine.