The Oglethorpe women's basketball team got their SAA Tournament off to an outstanding start Sunday afternoon, downing the eighth-seeded Hendrix Warriors 64-32 at Dorough Field House in the tournament's opening round. The win improved the Stormy Petrels to 25-1 on the season.

The top-seeded Petrels got out to a huge lead in the first half. They outscored Hendrix 22-7 in the first quarter and then held the visitors scoreless in the second quarter, outscoring them 16-0 over that 10-minute stretch. All in all, the Petrels outscored the Warriors 38-7 over the course of the first half. In the second half, Hendrix played the Petrels more evenly, outscoring them 16-14 over the course of the third quarter. The Petrels cruised home from there, besting the Warriors 12-9 in the fourth quarter.

Junior center Savannah LeGate scored 6 points for the Petrels while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Senior guard Morgan Grindle added 8 points while going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Junior forward Audrey Burdge added 8 points and three steals.

As a team, the Petrels held Hendrix to just 18.5 percent from the floor overall and 2-for-27 from 3-point range. The Petrels shot just 32.4 percent from the field themselves, but forced 24 Warrior turnovers and outscored them 17-5 in the category. They also outscored Hendrix 13-3 in second chance points, 32-16 in the paint, and 29-5 off the bench.

The Petrels now face the fourth-seeded Millsaps Majors Saturday at 4 p.m. from Dorough Field House. No. 2 seed Rhodes and No. 3 seed Centre comprise the other semifinal, set to take place at 6 p.m. at Dorough, with the two winners slated to face off against each other March 1 at 2 p.m. for the SAA championship.