The Oglethorpe women's basketball team dropped the Berry Vikings 62-47 Saturday evening, completing the first undefeated conference season in program history and improving to 24-1 on the year. The Stormy Petrels used 7-point margins in both the first and fourth quarters to pull away from Berry en route to the 15-point win.
The Petrels jumped out to a 14-5 lead early in the game and led 14-7 at the end of the opening period.
Junior center Savannah LeGate reached the 1,000 career point mark with 3:04 remaining in the first quarter when she made a free throw to give her team a 12-5 lead. With that, she became the 11th player in program history to accomplish the feat and the second in as many years after alumna Lauren Ransom passed the mark in 2019. LeGate finished the game with 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, putting her at 1,007 career points at the conclusion of the game.
Oglethorpe extended their lead to 19-9 early in the second quarter when freshman guard Olivia Herrera sank a 3-pointer with 7:50 left in the opening half to make it 19-9. The home side came back with seven straight points to make it 19-16 with 5 minutes to go in the period. They wouldn't score again in the period, though, and the Petrels used consecutive baskets to take a 23-16 lead into the halftime break.
The Petrels built their lead up to 14 points early in the second half, taking a 30-16 lead for their largest advantage of the game to that point. Berry fought back to cut the lead to 8 points by the end of the quarter, but the Petrels still led 37-29 through 30 minutes.
Berry cut it to a 5-point game, 37-32, with 9:45 remaining, but the Petrels embarked at that point on a 13-2 run to put the game away and take a 52-34 lead with 5:20 on the clock. They cruised from there to the 62-47 win.
The Petrels never trailed in the game. They also outscored the Vikings 34-12 in the paint and 28-13 off the bench. They shot 40.4 percent from the field while holding the home side to just 25.4 percent.
Oglethorpe now gets set to host the first round of the SAA Tournament from Dorough Field House. The top-seeded Petrels take on the eighth-seeded Hendrix Warriors from Dorough Field House on Sunday, Feb. 23.