The Oglethorpe women's basketball team fought hard on Sunday afternoon, but came up short in the end, losing to the Rhodes Lynx at Dorough Field House, 59-50. The Stormy Petrels were winning at halftime 32-26. However, the Petrels only recorded five points in the third period, which allowed the Lynx to tie the game at 37-37 entering the final quarter. Late in the game, the Lynx went on an 8-0 run to take a 56-46 lead with 1:01 left to play. Despite the loss, though, the Petrels remain in first place in the SAA with a 2-game lead over their closest competitors in Hendrix. The Warriors dropped a game at Berry on Sunday, keeping them two games back of Oglethorpe. The Petrels dropped to 16-6 on the season overall and 9-2 in the conference.
Even though the Petrels lost, they still had some impactful performances from key players. Freshman forward Savannah LeGate recorded a team-high nine rebounds and two blocks. Junior forward Lauren Ransom came off the bench to record four points and three blocks. Lastly, sophomore guard Taylor Dodson led her team with 14 points and also dished out a team-high four assists.
The Petrels began the game missing some of their shots, but they were able to make multiple second-chance opportunities by recording eight offensive rebounds in just the first quarter. The Petrels ended the quarter winning 18-13. They opened the second quarter knocking down a three to push their lead out to 21-13. The Lynx would fight back to reduce the Petrels advantage to only two points with 5:40 before halftime, 22-20. From there, the Petrels would develop an 8-0 run to give themselves a 30-20 lead. Both teams would exchange points until half where the Petrels remained ahead, 32-26.
The Lynx captured the lead with 10-2 run early in the third quarter, pushing to a 36-35 advantage. Rhodes outscored Oglethorpe 11-5 in the third quarter, and their offense helped propel the comeback and forced the game to be knotted up at 37-all entering the fourth period.
The Petrels started the fourth quarter hitting a three to take a 40-37 lead. From that point, the Lynx created a 9-1 run to build a 46-41 edge. The Petrels were able to come within four points, 48-44, with 3:34 left in the game. But Rhodes eventually pulled away for the 59-50 win. The Petrels scored just 18 points and made just three shots from the floor the entire second half.
With a 2-game lead and three games remaining in the conference season, the Petrels will need to win just one of their final three games to clinch the No. 1 seed and the right to host the SAA Tournament. They'll have their first opportunity to do that Friday night when they travel to Tennessee to take on Sewanee Friday night at 7 p.m. Eastern. They'll continue to Danville, Kentucky, to go against Centre at 1 p.m. Sunday, then will finish the regular season the following Saturday at Berry. The SAA Tournament will be played at the home gym of the No. 1 seed from Feb. 23 through 25.