WESTON, Mass. — Southern Vermont College concluded the regular season Saturday afternoon, losing 94-53 at Regis College in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball action.
For the fourth-straight year, Regis finishes with an unblemished 18-0 mark in the NECC to enter next week's Conference postseason tournament with a 20-5 overall record. Southern Vermont falls to 15-10 on the season, its best-ever record in the team's 22-year history. SVC will see its first playoff action for the program next week, taking the No. 3 seed with a 13-5 mark in league play.
The Mountaineers now try to get back to Weston next weekend for the NECC Semifinals to be hosted by top-seeded Regis; SVC will prepare to host No. 6 Newbury College in the first round of the playoff tournament at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. Regis takes the only bye, awaiting the winner of No. 4 Mitchell College and No. 5 Wheelock College for Friday's semifinal matchup. The Pride enters the NECC Tournament as the No. 1 seed, earning a bye with the program's fourth-straight 20-win season.
SVC junior captain Amber Flagg (Windsor, Connecticut) finished the day with 22 points, knocking down 14-of-19 free throws to go with two rebounds and three assists. Classmate Sarah McDonald (Cohoes, New York) added 13 points while sophomore captain Amber Dow (Panton, Vermont) scored all 10 of her points in the second half to go with seven rebounds. Junior Turquoia Johnson (Montgomery Village, Maryland) also added seven boards off the bench.
All 12 players that checked into the game for Regis registered at least one field goal, led by a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds from Brittany Stone (West Bridgewater, Massachusetts). Amanda Hawkesworth (Abington, Massachusetts) added a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with five assists while Emilee Marro (Bedford, New Hampshire) joined them in double-figures with 11 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Mikayla Murphy (Attleboro, Mass.) chipped in eight points, three rebounds, and a game-high six assists off the bench.
Regis jumped out to an early 12-3 lead by working the ball inside as all six baskets came from the paint with Stone scoring six of those RC points. Janaya Bradley (New Haven, Connecticut) stretched the Pride lead to 34-14 with a layup on the fast break that got her within one point of 1,000 for her career.
After a Linsay Bumila (Raynham, Massachusetts) block on the defensive end, the Pride set up a play for Bradley, leaving her one-on-one on the left side with an SVC defender. Bradley shot-faked and drove right, laying it off the glass and into the Pride record book as she became the 15th member of the 1,000 Point Club.
The Pride took a 51-22 lead into the break, shooting 46.8 percent from the field in the opening stanza. Stone led all scorers at the half with a double-double of 20 point and 10 rebounds while Flagg led Southern Vermont with 14 points, going 8-10 from the charity stripe.
SVC was hard-pressed to close the deficit in the second half as Regis continued to shoot efficiently from the floor for the 94-53 victory.