MILTON, Mass. — A strong first half gave Curry College enough of a cushion to defeat the Southern Vermont College women's basketball team 78-56 in the Colonel's annual tip-off tournament to start the season.

CC begins the 2014-15 campaign with a 1-0 record while SVC falls to 0-1 in the early going.

In her first game as a Mountaineer, junior Turquoia Johnson (Montgomery Village, Maryland) notched a double-double with team-bests of 22 points and 15 rebounds, adding four steals to her line. SVC freshman Chloe Longe (Enosburg Falls, Vermont) tallied 12 points to go with four rebounds in her first collegiate action while junior captain Amber Flagg (Windsor, Connecticut) was held to seven points, all coming from the free throw line.

Colonel senior Kylie Beltz (Pequot Lakes, Minnesota) led all players with 24 points, seven assists and seven steals, all game-bests. Classmate Samantha Corcoran (Hampton, New Hampshire) added a double-double of her own, scoring 11 points while pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds.

Curry went into the half with a 40-22 lead and then slighted Southern Vermont 38-34 in the second stanza to pad its advantage.

SVC out-shot the Colonels from beyond the arc, shooting 41.7 percent on a 5-12 effort from three-point range compared to 15.4 percent (2-13) on the Curry side. However, CC scored 11 more baskets from the field while committing seven less turnovers on the afternoon.

The Mountaineers will face off against Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Tip-off consolation game. Curry matches up against St. Joseph's College of Maine in Sunday's championship contest after the Monks defeated MIT 73-50 in Saturday's opening tilt.