The Oglethorpe women's basketball team never trailed Tuesday evening in a 76-72 victory over crosstown rival Emory, but the game proved far from easy for the Stormy Petrels. They held a 17-point fourth-quarter lead, only to watch the visiting Eagles storm back to tie the game with 18 seconds remaining. Oglethorpe got two clutch free throws from senior guard Morgan Grindle and a big steal from sophomore guard Amy Vazquez in the final 15 seconds to secure the victory, though, improving to 7-1 on the season.
The Petrels led 60-43 with 6:50 remaining in the contest, but Emory started the run that would vault them back into the game, scoring the next 11 points over 1:50 to cut the Oglethorpe lead to 60-54 with 5 minutes left. Oglethorpe used a couple made free throws on separate trips to push back out to a 62-54 advantage with 3:40 left, but an Emory 3-point play cut it back to a 5-point game with just over 3:10 on the clock.
The Petrels appeared to restore order with a 6-2 stretch over the next couple minutes which gave them a 68-59 edge with a minute left, but with 42 seconds left, they picked up a common shooting foul and a technical foul on the same play. This gave Emory four foul shots and the ball on the inbound, and the Eagles made all four foul shots to cut it to 68-64. They then converted a layup on the inbound play to thrust themselves right back into the game, down just 68-66 with 38 seconds left. Sophomore guard Nikki Reed converted on a pair of free throws to push the lead back out to four with 35 seconds on the clock, but Emory converted a 3-point play at the other end to make it 70-69 with 26 seconds remaining. The Petrels again made a pair of free throws, this time with junior center Sydni Donovan doing the honors, but Emory had a chance to tie with a 3-pointer. They did just that with 18 seconds left, turning a 9-point game at the 1-minute mark into a 72-72 tie.
The Eagles fouled Grindle in the backcourt with 14 seconds left, though, and she stepped to the line and calmly sank both free throws to give her team a 74-72 edge. Oglethorpe needed a defensive stop, and Vazquez came up big. She swiped the ball away with 6 seconds left and threw a long pass ahead to Reed on the fast break. Reed laid it up and in with 3 seconds on the clock, giving her team a 76-72 lead and securing the victory.
After a tight first half in which the Petrels led by no more than 6 at any point and took a 27-25 lead into the break, the Petrels seemed to pull away in the third quarter. Emory briefly tied it on the first possession of the second half, marking one of two times the Eagles drew even on the night. However, the home side outscored Emory 22-11 for the remainder of the quarter to build a 49-38 edge with 10 minutes remaining. They then embarked on a 7-0 run over about a minute of game time to push to a 60-43 advantage with 7:06 left, marking their largest lead of the game.
Reed led the Petrels with 22 points on a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Junior center Savannah LeGate recorded her second double-double of the season, collecting 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench while chipping in a 4-for-5 night from the charity stripe. Junior Taylor Smith posted 11 points and eight rebounds.
Both teams struggled from the field, with Emory outshooting the Petrels 39.3-to-36.8 percent. Oglethorpe enjoyed a big statistical advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Eagles 46-29 overall and 17-8 on the offensive end.
"Emory makes you play for 40 minutes and that's a testament to those kids," said Oglethorpe head coach Alex Richey. "We built a nice lead and then they made some big shots in the fourth to make it a high stress game. I was proud of our team's maturity when we had to deal with some adversity down the stretch, though, and I thought we did a good job of making clutch free throws."
The Petrels now step into SAA play for the first time, as they welcome Berry to Dorough Field House Saturday at 5 p.m. for the conference opener for both squads. After that, they'll get some time off for final exams before returning to host the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Classic Dec. 16 and 17. They'll play LeTourneau and Belhaven over that two-day stretch.