The Oglethorpe women's basketball team cruised to victory over the homestanding LaGrange Panthers Sunday afternoon at the USA South/SAA Classic, improving to 6-1 on the season. The Stormy Petrels outscored LaGrange 41-8 in the first half, shooting 46.7 percent over the opening 20 minutes while holding the Panthers to just 3-for-19 from the field during that time.

The Petrels led 20-2 after the opening quarter of play and held LaGrange to 0-for-11 from the field over the opening 10 minutes. They continued their torrid run of play in the second quarter, outscoring the Panthers 21-6 over the game's second 10 minutes, leading 41-8 at halftime. Oglethorpe shot 46.7 percent from the field over the course of the first half and held their opponents to just 15.8 percent (3-for-19) over the opening two quarters. The visitors shot 46.7 percent from 3-point range over the first half, as well.

With the game largely decided after the opening half of play, the Petrels held onto the big advantage over the course of the second half. LaGrange got as close as 23 points late in the fourth quarter, but the Petrels kept their lead between 25 and 30 points the majority of the final 20 minutes.

Oglethorpe shot 39.3 percent for the game while holding LaGrange to 26.7 percent from the field. The Petrels made 34.8 percent of their 3-point attempts while holding the Panthers to just 6.7 percent (1-for-15). The visitors outrebounded LaGrange 42-32, leading to a 12-4 advantage in second chance points. Additionally, the Petrels forced 21 turnovers and outscored LaGrange 22-9 off those takeaways. The Petrels recorded 15 assists on 22 made baskets while the Panthers had just two on 12 baskets.

Junior guard Taylor Dodson led the team with 12 points on 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Sophomore forward Audrey Burdge led the Petrels with six rebounds, while sophomore center Savannah LeGate scored nine in limited action due to foul trouble and the size of the lead.

"I felt like we shared the ball extremely well in the first half," said Oglethorpe head coach Alex Richey. "I also thought that we were very engaged defensively with active hands and good communication, and we're really tough to get clean looks against when we're doing that. I was also really happy with our improvement on the boards and in screening, both of which we've been working on in practice."

The Petrels will now have some time off from game action after this string of five games in eight days. They'll next hit the court Friday, Dec. 7, with their SAA opener against Berry in Mount Berry, Georgia, at 5 p.m.