Murphy Rules as MCC Remains Unbeaten with 79-41 win at Holyoke

HOLYOKE, MA – Preseason All-American Erika Murphy (Torrington) had a career high 27 points as Manchester CC beat Holyoke CC 79-41 Thursday night in Holyoke.

MCC (3-0) took control of the game with a 13-point run to close out the first half with a 42-22 lead, then scored the first six points of the second half to open up a 26 point gap. Ericka Segay (Bloomfield) had 18 rebounds while Shenielle Duncan-Clarke (Bloomfield) had 14 points for the Cougars. Dominica Gendreau had 15 points for previously unbeaten Holyoke (3-1).
Murphy scored MCC’s first nine points and mostly cheered on her teammates from the sidelines in the second half.
“She was on fire,” MCC head Coach Robert Turner said after of Murphy after the Cougars passed their first real test of the season. “Everything she put up went in. She wanted this game real bad. These are our rivals and when you play your rivals you’ve got to come out hard and play.”
Murphy, along with Duncan-Clarke, who checked in with seven assists, seven rebounds and nine steals, set a blistering pace that Holyoke could not match.
“It’s pretty tough to defend when you have two players who can create their own shots,” Turner said of his captain and point guard.
The assault continued when Turner went to his bench.
“I was trying to wear them out because they are pretty active down low,” Turner said. “In the beginning of the game, they got a lot of second points and we wanted to keep our big ladies fresh so we could rebound well.”
MCC hosts Massasoit CC (3-0) AT Great Path Academy Gym on the MCC campus at 1 PM.