MILTON, Mass. — The Southern Vermont College women's basketball team trailed after the first quarter Sunday afternoon, but the Mountaineers came back to outscore Wellesley College in the final three periods as SVC defeated the Blue 78-62 in the consolation game of the 2015 Curry College Tip-off Tournament.

Southern Vermont starts the season 2-1 for the first time since 2008-09, grabbing its first-ever victory on Curry's court in nine all-time games against varying opponents. Sunday also marked the first time SVC and WC ever matched up.

While many of the team statistics were comparable, the Mountaineers dominated the glass as they outrebounded Wellesley 50-34; 21 of SVC's boards were on the offensive end, leading Southern Vermont to outscore the Blue 21-1 in second-chance points.

Next up for the Mountaineers is a road game at The Sage Colleges next Monday, November 30, tip-off for that non-conference contest slated for 7 p.m.

SVC senior captain Amber Flagg (Windsor, Conn.) registered a game-high 23 points, adding seven rebounds and five steals to her day's line. Junior captain Amber Dow (Vergennes, Vt.) went 4-7 on three-pointers and 6-8 at the free throw line, registering a career-best 18 points to go with her two boards.

Sophomore Danielle Simmons (Rensselaer, N.Y.) notched a season-high 10 points and five rebounds off the Mountaineer bench as senior Kala MacKenzie (Fair Haven, Vt.) pulled down nine rebounds to tie the team's high; MacKenzie now has 536 career boards, putting her up to third on the all-time SVC record list and just 18 away from tying the program's second-best mark of 554 (Javasha White).

Southern Vermont shot 41 percent from the floor (25-61) while the Blue went 26-65 for a 40 percent field goal clip. Wellesley turned the ball over 18 times to SVC's 19 while the Mountaineers used their takeaways to top WC 17-16 in points off turnovers.

The Blue came out and took an early 12-4 lead midway through the first quarter, a Wellesley layup at the 6:22 mark preceding 1:35 of scoreless basketball. A MacKenzie free throw was followed by Dow's first trey, starting a 9-2 SVC run that pulled the Mountaineers within one. WC forced Southern Vermont to turn it over on three straight possessions late in the period, each of those resulting in a Wellesley layup as the Blue opened it to a 20-13 lead. Dow sunk another deep bucket with 27 ticks on the clock, sending the game to the first stoppage with SVC trailing by just four.

After play resumed, neither team could really get its offense in rhythm as there were only three baskets in the first four minutes of the second quarter, all coming off of Mountaineers' hands; layups from both Flagg and MacKenzie sandwiched Dow continuing her solid first half as the junior's third score from downtown gave SVC its first lead of the day at 21-20. Wellesley would tie it up twice in the next minute of action, but Southern Vermont would then take to a quick 7-2 spurt that was capped by Dow's fourth three-pointer which resulted in a six-point Mountaineer advantage. The two sides traded scores down the stretch, a Blue free throw with nine seconds to go sending the game to halftime with SVC up 36-29.

The first five minutes of the third quarter was all Southern Vermont, the Mountaineers scoring nine unanswered points for a comfortable 45-29 cushion. Wellesley started to get its scoring started late in the stanza, only to see SVC respond with baskets on the other end to keep its distance and go into the fourth up by a 55-40 margin. Flagg scored the final five Mountaineer points of the quarter, knocking down a three ball before hitting a pair of free throws with just two seconds on the clock.

Wellesley was able to trim the gap early in the fourth with a 6-2 spurt, but SVC returned to its efficient shooting as it scored seven straight points to force a Blue timeout at the 3:46 mark with the Mountaineers up 70-50. Simmons and Dow accounted for the final seven Southern Vermont points as time waned, capping their first Curry Tip-off consolation victory in four tries.