BENNINGTON, Vt. — Despite seeing junior captain Amber Flagg (Windsor, Connecticut) score her 1,000th collegiate point, the Southern Vermont College women's basketball team dropped its final non-conference game of the season by a 73-52 margin to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts at the Mountaineer Athletic Center Saturday afternoon.

For the Trailblazers, it marked their second straight victory and pushes them over .500 at 6-5 while SVC drops to 4-5 overall with the loss.

The Mountaineers were paced by the first collegiate double-double from freshman Danielle Simmons (Rensselaer, New York) who notched 15 points and 11 rebounds. Flagg finished with 13 points, including the 1,000th of her career coming in the first half; she is only the third SVC women's player to score 1,000 points, accomplishing the feat in just 59 collegiate games (17.1/game).

MCLA placed four players in double figures with sophomore Courtney McLaughlin (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) leading the way with 15 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. Joining McLaughlin in double figures for the visitors were sophomores Kayla Hotaling (Ravena, New York), Brayleigh Hanlon (Wynantskill, New York), and Svetlana Morrell (Stillwater, New York) who all finished with 10 points. 

Early on, the Mountaineers were staying with the Trailblazers and led 12-10 after Flagg's milestone layup with 13:10 left to go in the opening half.  That ignited the Trailblazers, however, as they responded with a 20-0 spurt to seize control of the contest at 30-12.  McLaughlin and Morrell each had six points in the game-changing stretch for MCLA.

The Trailblazers would eventually hold a 34-24 lead at the half before SVC mounted a rally.  Southern Vermont scored the first seven points out of the locker room to pull within 34-31 with 18:28 to play.  MCLA had an immediate answer, though, this time using a 9-1 run to build the lead back to double figures at 43-32.  SVC never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Southern Vermont turns back to the remainder of its New England Collegiate Conference schedule (2-0), welcoming Lesley University on Tuesday at 2 p.m. MCLA begins its Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference season on Thursday, hosting Bridgewater State University for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.