The Oglethorpe women's basketball team used excellent bookend quarters Monday evening to secure a 71-39 victory over Wesleyan at Historic Porter Gymnasium in Macon, Georgia, improving to 3-2 on the season and pushing above the .500 mark for the first time on the young campaign. The Stormy Petrels outscored the homestanding Wolves 19-5 in the first quarter and 26-7 in the fourth to secure the 32-point win.
The Petrels got a balanced performance on the night, with 13 players finding their way onto the scoresheet. The team was led by senior guard Emily Buck, who tallied 12 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting. Junior guard Dannelle Carroll shot very well off the bench, scoring 11 points on 4-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point range. Freshman forward Lauren Ransom continued her streak scoring in double figures, recording 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and adding three steals. Freshman center Alexandria Brown led the Petrels on the night with eight rebounds.
The Petrels began the game on the right foot, scoring the contest's first 14 points over the first 5:45 of the first quarter and extending their run to 18-3 with 2:50 remaining in the period. Wesleyan was able to push the game closer in the second quarter, outscoring the visitors 15-12 over the course of the period and trailing 31-20 at halftime.
Oglethorpe pushed their lead back out to start the second half, going on a 10-2 run over the first 3:48 of the third quarter to extend their lead out to 19 points, 41-22, with 6:12 left in the third quarter. The Wolves stayed in the game, though, using a 10-0 stretch over the next three minutes to get as close as they'd been since the first quarter, 41-32 with 2:18 remaining in the period. They would get no closer, however.
The Petrels pushed back out to a 13-point advantage to end the third quarter, then put the game away early in the fourth. Starting with the final two baskets of the third, they went on a 14-2 run and built a 21-point lead, 55-34, with 7:21 remaining. After a mini-run from the Wolves, the Petrels finished the contest on a 16-2 run over the final four minutes.
The Petrels shot 37 percent for the game to Wesleyan's 31 percent and made 32 percent of their three-point attempts to the Wolves' 31. Oglethorpe outrebounded Wesleyan 52-40 for the game, including 26-11 on the offensive boards. The Petrels forced 28 Wesleyan turnovers and outscored them 31-4 off of those takeaways.
"We were able to get a lot of minutes for a lot of players tonight," said Head Coach Alex Richey. "It was good to get so many players game experience and it was good to get a road win. We've had a lot of things to be excited about through five games and we're just looking to get better and better every time out. I'm pleased with where we are so far and I look forward to seeing this team improve as the season goes on."
The Petrels will take several days off for the Thanksgiving holiday before returning home this weekend to host the SAA-USA South Classic Saturday and Sunday. The team will take on Piedmont Saturday at 4 p.m. and LaGrange Sunday at 4 p.m. from Dorough Field House, while Berry takes on the opposite team each day at 2 p.m.