The Oglethorpe women's basketball team had a tough afternoon Sunday in Birmingham, Alabama, falling to Birmingham-Southern 65-47. The homestanding Panthers never trailed and built their advantage to as many as 26 points in the third quarter. The defeat drops the Stormy Petrels to 11-12 on the season overall and 5-7 in Southern Athletic Association play.

The Petrels suffered a difficult afternoon from the field, shooting 27 percent to Birmingham-Southern's 45 percent. The Panthers also connected on 47 percent of their 3-point attempts on the afternoon. They jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the early-going en route to a 19-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

The Birmingham-Southern run continued in the second quarter as they outscored Oglethorpe 18-7 in that period. In all, the Panthers led 37-17 at the break and outscored the Petrels 43-17 over the opening 22:20 of the game. After that, the Petrels went on a run of their own, a 12-2 stretch over the next six minutes to draw back to within 16 points, 45-29, with 1:55 remaining in the third period. The Panthers pushed their lead back out from there, though, embarking on an 18-10 run over the next nine minutes to push their advantage back out to 24 points and secure the victory.

Freshman guard Brooke Simpson had an excellent game for the Petrels, despite the loss, scoring 14 points on 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Senior guard Emily Buck scored 8 points on 2 of 5 from 3-point range, while freshman center Alexandria Brown led the team with 8 rebounds. Freshman guard Nicolette Andrey and senior forward Ali Bleckley contributed three assists, as well.

The Panthers outrebounded the Petrels 44-37 for the game, though Oglethorpe did win the battle of the offensive glass 18-11. The Petrels forced 17 Birmingham-Southern turnovers while committing 14 themselves. The Petrels also outscored BSC 32-19 off the bench, due largely to the efforts of Simpson. 

The Petrels will be back in action for their final two games of the regular season next weekend, when they take on Sewanee in Sewanee, Tennessee, Friday evening at 7 p.m. Eastern before traveling to Danville, Kentucky, to go against Centre at 1 p.m. Sunday.