The Oglethorpe women's basketball team returned to action on Thursday afternoon, traveling to Lexington, Kentucky, to face Transylvania Pioneers. The Petrels fought hard to put themselves ahead 46-45 at the end of the third quarter. However, in the fourth quarter, the Pioneers were able to pull away and win the game, 68-55. The loss dropped the Stormy Petrels to 7-4 on the season. 

 

The Petrels finished the first quarter shooting 50 percent from the field. The Pioneers only shot around 20 percent from the field over the opening period, as well as only converting 2 of 8 from beyond the arc. Even though the Petrels held the advantage in shooting percentage, they still found themselves down by four points headed to the second quarter. Much of the Petrels deficit could be explained by the turnover margin, as Oglethorpe turned the ball over three times in the quarter while Transylvania did not record a turnover.

 

The Petrels continued to shoot the ball well in the second quarter, making 6 of 15 shots from the field and 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. The Petrels defense forced the Pioneers to shoot under 40 percent from the field over the course of the second quarter. Nevertheless, the Petrels still found themselves down 35-27 heading into halftime. The Petrels didn't reach the free throw line in the second quarter, while the Pioneers made each of their seven attempts from the charity stripe. 

 

The first made basket of the third quarter was a three-pointer from sophomore guard Sydney Long, which sparked the Petrels to score seven straight and come within a point of the Pioneers, 35-34. From there, the Petrels and Pioneers would go back and forth for much of the remainder of the period, with neither team gaining much of an edge. The Petrels would end the quarter on top, 46-45. They were led by junior forward Lauren Ransom, who scored eight points with three rebounds during the period, and freshman center Savannah LeGate, who added six points and four rebounds in just the third quarter. 

 

Within the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, the Pioneers went on a 10-3 run and never looked back. The Pioneers would finish the quarter scoring 23 points compared to the Petrels' nine. The Petrels would end the night shooting over 41 percent from the field, as well as making 6 of 11 attempts from 3-point land. Conversely, the Petrels only converted on 5 of 10 free throw attempts, while the Pioneers made 22 of 24 from the free throw line. 

 

The Petrels were led by LeGate, who scored 15 points and recorded nine rebounds. Ransom also had a solid performance, scoring 10 points and recording five boards. 

 

"Transylvania is a very good team, one of the two best we've played so far this year," said Oglethorpe head coach Alex Richey. "We hung in there on the road and even got the lead in the third quarter, but they were just too much in the fourth. I think this is another game we'll learn from as we go forward into our conference season."

 

The Petrels will return home on Tuesday to battle Emory at 6 p.m. for their first game of 2018 and their final non-conference game of the regular season. The following weekend, they'll travel to take on Hendrix and Rhodes in SAA play.