For 30 minutes, things looked bleak for the Centre women's basketball team. However, they were able to turn a 12-point deficit halfway through the second half into a six-point victory as they defeated the Stormy Petrels of Oglethorpe University, 77-71.
The Colonels were able to turn the corner by forcing Oglethorpe into 22 turnovers, with 14 of them coming in the second half. Every Petrel player who checked into today's game committed at least two turnovers against Centre's defense. Centre also won the battle at the foul line, which helped tremendously in the comeback effort. The Colonels shot 22-27 from the charity stripe while Oglethorpe shot 14-26.
Senior Maggie Prewitt (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) had another fine afternoon as she scored a season high 33 points on 11-20 shooting from the field and a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line. She also recorded seven of the team's 11 assists. Junior Chelsea Benham (Taswell, Ind.) scored 14 points grabbed six rebounds and had four steals, while senior Lauren Huter (Louisville, Ky.) scored 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds. The Colonels managed to steal the ball 14 times from Oglethorpe in today's game.
Oglethorpe crashed the glass hard in the first half, using a 24-15 rebounding advantage (including 13-5 on the offensive end) to lead by as many as 11 points in the first half. Any time the Colonels threatened in the first frame, the Petrels had an answer, usually in the form of a three-pointer, as Oglethorpe hit on 6-11 from downtown in the game's first 20 minutes to take a 37-29 lead into halftime.
The start of the second half was more of the same. Centre cut the lead to 38-35 on a three-point play by Huter, but a 14-5 Petrel run produced a 12-point deficit for Centre, the largest lead for either team all day, at the 11-minute mark. The Colonels chipped away at the lead for the next few minutes on baskets and free throws by Benham, Huter and Prewitt, but still trailed by six with eight minutes to go. A three-pointer by senior Jane Goatley (Springfield, Ky.) cut the lead in half at 55-52.
After an Oglethorpe basket, Prewitt grabbed a key offensive rebound and converted a three-point play, then Benham scored on another three-point play to give the Colonels their first lead since the 14:03 mark of the first half. With Centre leading 65-61, sophomore Paige Baechle hit a clutch jumper to put the Colonels on top by six. After the two teams traded baskets, senior Alyson Burke(Harrodsburg, Ky.) hit a dagger three to make it 72-64. The Colonels eventually extended their lead to nine points before Oglethorpe hit a three as time ran out to provide the final score. Between the bookend threes from Goatley and Burke, Centre scored on nine of twelve possessions.
Mareva Bone led Oglethorpe with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Sarah Jones, Katie Weeks and Riley Cerone all scored in double figures for the Petrels.
The next game for the Colonels will be on December 29. Centre will play Ripon as part of the two-day Huntingdon Classic in Montgomery, Ala.