BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College women's basketball team grabbed an important win Tuesday night at the Mountaineer Athletic Center on the SVC campus, a 60-43 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) win and the team's first of the season over Wheelock College.

After playing their first three games of the seaon on the road, The Mountaineers (1-3, 1-0 NECC) started a five-game homestand hoping to fare better on the familiar court.  Tuesday's game strongly for SVC, as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the early going.  Wheelock (0-6, 0-1 NECC) stayed with Southern Vermont with layups and free throws, but a lack of bench depth saw quick fatigue cause problems.

A couple 3-pointers from freshman Marissa Myers (E. Chatham, N.Y.) helped increase the lead to 18-9, and the Mountaineers never looked back.

"I'm very happy to see this young team get its first win," said head coach Mike Quinn.  "They all worked hard for it and deserve the victory."

SVC took a 28-19 lead into the break and kept up the pace.  The Mountaineers' biggest lead came mid-way through the second half when the score read 52-24.

Southern Vermont's balanced scoring was led by freshman Amber Flagg (Windsor, Conn.) with 12; she also had game-highs of four assists and five steals.  Three Mountaineers, including Myers, had eight on the night.   

The Wildcats were led by sophomore Erika Belmore (Mattapoisett, Mass.) who recorded a game-high of 16.  Not far from her was junior captain Randi Davis (Wilmington, Mass.) with 13.

The Mountaineers will try to keep the momentum as they head into Thursday night's non-conference home matchup against The Sage Colleges at 8 p.m. while Wheelock continues NECC play with a Saturday home game against Becker College (1 p.m.).