The Oglethorpe women's basketball team dropped to 0-2 on its two-game swing through North Texas Saturday afternoon, losing to former SCAC opponent Austin, 71-50, in Sherman.
The Stormy Petrels fell behind early in this one as Austin took a 14-7 lead five minutes into the game. That lead didn't last long, however, as Oglethorpe went on a 7-0 run to tie the score, 14-14, with 12:53 left in the first half. However, the home-standing Kangaroos rattled off a 7-0 run of their own to get the lead right back, then extended the stretch to 14-3 over 8:06, taking a 28-17 lead with 4:47 left in the period. A 10-2 Petrel run brought them right back to within three, 30-27, but the Kangaroos scored the final six points of the half and led by nine, 36-27, at the break.
The Petrels shot 55 percent from long distance in the half, far superior to Austin's 19, but they were only 3-for-8 from the free-throw line to Austin's 7-for-9 and turned the ball over seven times to Austin's three.
In the second half, the Petrels got to within seven a couple of times. Senior guard Kyana Jenkins drew the score to within 38-31 with 17:10 left and 40-33 with 14:23 left with separate made jump shots. However, an extended 31-12 spurt from the Kangaroos put the game away. They led 71-45 with 1:25 left and, though the Petrels scored the game's final five points, Austin prevailed by a comfortable 21 points, having outscored Oglethorpe 35-23 in the second half.
The Petrels shot just 25 percent from the floor and 17 percent from beyond the 3-point arc in the second half, and were outrebounded, 24-15, for the period. Additionally, Austin accumulated 10 assists in the stanza to Oglethorpe's three.
For the game, the Petrels shot 29 percent to Austin's 39, and 63 percent at the free-throw line to the Kangaroos' 82. The Petrels did outshoot their opponent from long distance, 35-to-23 percent. Austin outrebounded the Petrels, 46-36, and accumulated 18 assists to Oglethorpe's nine. They outscored the Petrels 20-8 off turnovers and by a whopping 32-4 in the paint.
Freshman forward McKenzie Fortson led the squad with 12 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting. Meanwhile, Jenkins had eight points on 4-of-6 shooting and passed out three assists.
The loss drops the Petrels to 3-7 on the year. They'll return to action next Sunday, when they take on Rust in the Country Inn and Suites Holiday Classic at 1 p.m. They'll then play undefeated No. 19 York (Pa.) at 6 p.m. the following day to conclude the Classic.