ATLANTA, Ga.—The 16th ranked Transylvania University women's basketball team converted 22 turnovers into 21 points, as the Pioneers defeated the Stormy Petrels of Oglethorpe University, 65-54 Tuesday at the Dorough Field House.
The smothering Pioneer defense tallied 11 steals in the win and pulled down 30 defensive rebounds, while racking up 32 points from the paint. Despite trailing most of the game, the Pioneers gained the lead for good with 12:00 left to play, as Katelyn Smith laid it in for a 43-42 lead and it was all Transylvania from there.
The aggressive play of the offense helped the Pioneers get the free throw line to extend the lead to 54-48. Transylvania finished 17-of-25 from the line in the win. Sophomore guard Jordin Fenderfollowed her own miss, pulling down an offensive rebound before finding Smith for a timely three-point bucket to extend the lead to nine, 57-48, with 5:39 left.
Senior Elizabeth Thomas converted on a pass from Fender, before Fender sank a jumper on the following possession. The Pioneers held a commanding 11-point advantage with 2:24 remaining, sealing the win for the Pioneers.
Oglethorpe jumped out to a 5-0 lead less than two minutes into play, until a jumper from Smith and an old fashioned three-point play from Nicole Coffman tied the game at five at the 17:44 mark.
On the ensuing Oglethorpe possession, a long ball from McKenzie Fortson put the Stormy Petrels up by three, until Fender's first of two steals in the game led to an easy bucket for to pull the Pioneers within one, 8-7.
Back-to-back scores by Oglethorpe extended the lead back to six with 16:08 remaining, before the Stormy Petrels built an eight-point lead, its largest of the contest, 25-17, with 10:55 left in the first half.
Alex McKenzie pulled down a defensive rebound following a missed Oglethorpe three-pointer and found teammate Smith who drew the foul and hit both free throws giving the visiting team momentum. The Pioneer defense came up with a big stop to keep Oglethorpe off the board as free throws from Smith and McKenzie, along with a jumper from Coffman pulled the Pioneers back within one, 25-24.
Two made free throws from Fender following another steal gave the visiting Pioneers their first lead of the game, 26-25. Sarah Ashley added a three-pointer for the Pioneers to widen the lead to 29-25 before Coffman netted a jumper to give Transylvania a six-point advantage.
Oglethorpe responded with a 9-0 run capped by a three-pointer from Dannelle Carroll with under two minutes left in the first half and another long ball from Buck gave the Stormy Petrels a six-point lead at the break.
Coffman led the Pioneers in scoring with 18 points, along with six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Smith finished with 16 points, five rebounds, one assist and one block in the win. Fender added 14 points, five rebounds and two steals, while tying a career-high nine assists.
Transylvania (9-1, 3-0) returns to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play Saturday, Jan. 3 at Anderson (Ind.) University. Saturday's game is scheduled for 2 p.m.