LEICESTER, Mass. — The Southern Vermont College women's basketball team defeated Becker College for the first time in program history Thursday night, winning 70-40 at Leicester Gymnasium in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action.
The victory is the first for either Southern Vermont basketball team over Becker, the women's team going into Thursday's tilt with a 0-13 record against the Hawks. SVC is now 4-3 on the year and starts the season 2-0 in the NECC for the first time since 2011-12. Becker falls to 0-7 overall, 0-2 against the league.
Mountaineer freshman Chloe Longe (Enosburg, New York) tallied a game-high 19 points to go with a season-best six rebounds. Junior Turquoia Johnson (Montgomery Village, Maryland) narrowly missed a double-double with 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds while adding four steals to her line, and classmate Amber Flagg (Windsor, Connecticut) added 15 points and a game-best eight steals in the win.
Becker senior Brooke Martel (Griswold, Connecticut) led her team with 15 points and nine rebounds while freshman Alycia Dery (Millville, Massachusetts) followed with seven points.
SVC shot 48.4 percent from the floor (30-62) while holding the Hawks to just 13 field goals on 52 attempts for a 25 percent clip. The Mountaineers out-rebounded BC 44-33 and utilized 18 steals to outscore Becker 16-0 in fast break points. Southern Vermont forced the hosts to shoot from the outside as the Hawks scored only 12 of their points in the paint compared to 42 coming from inside the key for the Mountaineers.
Johnson got Southern Vermont on the board first following the tip, intercepting a Hawk pass and taking it the distance for the breakaway layup. Becker came back with a pair of Martel free throws and a lay-in by junior Gabrielle Gallo (Northport, New York) to go up 4-2, but the Mountaineers then went on a 14-0 run to take a comfortable lead. Longe scored seven straight points during that stretch, knocking down a shot from beyond the perimeter to cap her string.
Through the midway of the opening period, the Hawks stayed close with their share of baskets before cutting their deficit to six points (19-13) on a three-pointer from freshman Kaitlyn Rose (North Attleboro, Massachusetts). But SVC would then explode for fifteen more unanswered points, 10 coming from Johnson, to make it 35-15 with 2:15 to play in the half.
Another Rose trey led to a quick 7-0 run by the Hawks before SVC freshman Danielle Simmons(Rensselaer, New York) hit a jumper to beat the horn, sending the Mountaineers into the locker room with a 37-22 advantage.
Johnson's 13 points led the first while Flagg and Martel each had nine. The Mountaineers went 14-27 (51.9 percent) from the floor and outscored Becker 23-11 in points off turnovers in the stanza.
Following the break, SVC went a 14-2 run with Flagg, Longe, and junior Sarah McDonald (Cohoes, New York) getting in on the scoring. Southern Vermont opened the lead up to 29 at one point, a Longe layup with 9:01 to go making it a 61-32 game.
Baskets became scarce for both teams through the latter end of the game with Becker scoring the only four points between the 8:32 and 2:32 marks. Southern Vermont freshman Sarahi Morillo (Yonkers, New York) then made a layup to put her team up 63-38, and the Mountaineers went on to close out the game to win their fourth out of five contests.
SVC has one more game before the finals and holiday break, visiting New England College on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. non-conference tip. Becker also has one more matchup before the New Year, traveling to Newbury College on Saturday for a 12 p.m. conference tilt.