The Oglethorpe women's basketball team completed a sweep of the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Classic Tuesday afternoon at Dorough Field House, holding off the Belhaven Blazers 81-76 to improve to 10-1 on the season. The Stormy Petrels outlasted their opponent in a foul-filled game that went back and forth, seeing six lead changes and five ties along with 56 total fouls.
The home side got double-doubles from a pair of starters, with junior center Savannah LeGate contributing 16 points and 15 rebounds to go with three blocks. Meanwhile, junior guard Taylor Smith added 15 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists while sinking the game-winning basket with 42 seconds left. Junior forward Audrey Burdge added 13 rebounds of her own to go with 9 points and three blocks, as Oglethorpe outrebounded Belhaven 61-43.
The Petrels also held the Blazers to just 28.2 percent from the field. They outscored the visitors 18-9 in second-chance points and by a whopping 46-18 margin in the paint. The Blazers, by contrast, stayed in the game by forcing 26 Oglethorpe turnovers and scoring 25 points off of those takeaways.
An solid third quarter put the Petrels ahead 60-55 going into the final 10 minutes, and they quickly took a 9-point lead early in the final period, pulling ahead 64-55 with 9:40 left. Just when it looked like the Petrels might pull away, though, the Blazers went on a 8-0 run to pull it to a 64-63 game with 8 minutes remaining. The Petrels turned in a 4-point trip at the other end, as LeGate completed a 3-point play and the home side got an extra free throw off a Belhaven technical foul, pushing them back ahead by 5 points with 7:50 on the clock. The Blazers went on an 11-2 run over the next 3:50, though, and vaulted themselves into a 74-70 lead with 3 minutes remaining.
Still down 76-72 with 1:50 left, the Petrels responded. Smith scored with 1:45 left and LeGate followed with a pair of free throws 20 seconds later to tie it 76-76 with 1:25 on the clock. Oglethorpe got a stop and a rebound with a minute left, giving themselves a chance to take the lead. They did just that, as Smith secured the go-ahead basket with 42 seconds on the clock. A Belhaven turnover gave the ball back to the Petrels, and sophomore guard Nikki Reed made both foul shots with 11 seconds left to give the Petrels a two-possession lead. Another stop at the other end in the final 10 seconds secured the game for the Petrels.
Oglethorpe began the game on fire, outscoring the Blazers 10-0 over the opening 2:30 and then doubling up with an 11-1 spurt over 2:50 to pull out to a 21-6 lead with 4:10 remaining in the opening quarter. From there, though Belhaven used a 21-10 run to pull to within 4 points at 31-27 with 6:21 to go in the second quarter. An 11-0 Blazer run over the latter half of the quarter turned the game around and gave the visitors a 38-35 lead with 30 seconds until halftime. Belhaven outscored Oglethorpe 21-10 over the course of the second quarter and entered the locker room with a 39-38 lead.
The Petrels will now break for the holidays and return to action Sunday, Dec. 29. They'll host Bridgewater (Virginia) at 2 p.m. in their final non-conference game of the regular season before going back into SAA play.