The Oglethorpe women's basketball team completed the regular-season sweep over Birmingham-Southern Saturday afternoon and extended their SAA winning streak over the last two years to 19 games in all competitions, holding off the homestanding Panthers 114-104 with the help of an SAA-record performance from senior center Savannah LeGate. That effort helped the Stormy Petrels overcome a 17-point deficit in the first half.
LeGate scored 43 points on 18-of-29 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line, breaking the SAA record for most points scored in a single game. She also grabbed 21 rebounds on the afternoon, coming just a single board short of her own conference single-game record in that category. She proved instrumental in the Oglethorpe comeback, scoring 27 points in the second half and converting on 5 of 6 field goal attempts in the fourth quarter.
Down 59-42 with 2:05 left until halftime, the visitors got to work slicing into that BSC advantage. They scored 9 straight points over the next 1:30 to pull to within 8 points, 59-51, with 30 seconds left until the break, going in to the locker room down 61-53. The Panthers hung on to the arm's-length advantage for a while to start the second half, leading 77-66 with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter. However, Oglethorpe embarked on an 11-2 run over the next 3:50 pull to within a couple points, 79-77.
The Panthers pushed that back out to 85-79 late in the period, but the fourth quarter belonged to the Petrels. LeGate hit a jump shot to pull it back to a 4-point game at the quarter break, then Oglethorpe sank three baskets in a row early in the fourth to take an 87-85 lead at the nine-minute mark. The home side briefly took the lead back and held a 91-89 edge with 7:45 to go. However, an 11-3 Oglethorpe run pushed the Petrels to the 100-point mark and gave them a 6-point edge with five minutes on the clock. A subsequent 9-2 stretch put Oglethorpe completely in control, giving them a 109-99 advantage with just two minutes on the clock.
Birmingham-Southern enjoyed the better of play in the first half. They led by as many as 6 points in the first quarter, then went on a huge 31-8 run over just 5:40. That turned a 34-28 Oglethorpe advantage into a 59-42 lead for the Panthers.
The Petrels also got excellent outings from junior guard Nikki Reed and senior forward Sydni Donovan. Reed scored 15 points on 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe, adding six assists and four steals. Donovan poured in 11 points, including a 5-of-6 day from the foul line, while grabbing 16 boards.
Oglethorpe improved to 2-0 on the young season and gets set to host Rhodes in a couple games next weekend from Dorough Field House.