The Oglethorpe women's basketball team suffered a tough shooting performance Sunday in Dorough Field House, particularly in the first half. In the end, it was too much to overcome, as the visiting Hendrix Warriors left with a 75-49 victory.

The Stormy Petrels shot 22.7 percent for the game, including an 18.8 percent mark in the first half. In addition, they were 1-for-15 from three-point range for the game and 0-for-8 in the first half. As a result, they found themselves down 37-18 to Hendrix at halftime. The Petrels played notably better in the second half, scoring 31 points over the course of the period, but the damage had already been done. 

The Petrels did shoot very well from the free throw line over the course of the game, converting at an 81.8 percent rate, including a perfect 6-for-6 in the first half. In addition, they forced Hendrix into 22 turnovers for the game while only committing 10. The Warriors outrebounded the home team 51-31, though, resulting in the Petrels being unable to attain many second-chance opportunities.

Junior guard Kristen Kennebrew had a very solid game, as she scored 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and chipped in a pair of steals. She was Oglethorpe's main source of offense for stretches of the game. Sophomore forward Ciaira Hughes recorded another game with double-digit points, scoring 14 on 9-of-10 free throw shooting. Sophomore guard Raegan Merryman and junior forward Ali Bleckley tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven apiece.

Hendrix got off to a good start, pulling ahead 7-0 in the game's first three minutes. The Petrels answered with a couple baskets of their own, but the Warriors began another run about midway through the half, this one lasting much of the remainder of the period. They outscored the Petrels 25-8 over the next 11 minutes, taking a 37-16 lead with a minute to go in the first half. They ended the half with a 19-point advantage.

In the second, the Warriors slowly built their lead up to a 51-29 advantage with 13:25 remaining in the game. From there, they scored eight straight points to build their advantage to its largest of the game, 59-29, with 11:26 remaining. The Petrels did begin to chip away at the Hendrix lead, going on a 13-5 stretch to cut the lead down to 64-42 with 6:10 remaining. However, Hendrix was able to put the game away from there and lock down the victory.

"Hendrix came out of the gates with more intensity than we had and we dug ourselves too big a hole in the first half," said Oglethorpe Head Coach Alex Richey. "Overall, it was just not our day today, and credit to Hendrix for a very good peformance. We can't dwell on this game, as we've been playing really well lately and have already done some great things this season. We certainly have the capability of doing more great things going forward. We still have a lot of basketball left to play."

With the loss, the Petrels fall to 5-9 on the season, 0-3 in SAA play. They'll now hit the road for a five-game trip over three weekends, which will begin on Saturday when they travel to Mount Berry, Ga., to take on Berry. The game will get started at 1 p.m. After that, the Petrels will go to Millsaps and Birmingham-Southern the following weekend, and to Sewanee and Centre the weekend after that.