The Oglethorpe women's basketball team got their season off to an outstanding, if belated, start Friday night in Alabama, pulling away from the Birmingham-Southern Panthers in a 106-81 shootout at Bill Battle Coliseum.

After having to wait an additional week to get underway due to COVID-19 protocols, the Stormy Petrels made up for lost time on Friday, getting outstanding performances across the board. Senior center Savannah LeGate picked up right where she left off last year, scoring a game-high 26 points in just 19 minutes of play. She went 10-for-18 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free throw line while grabbing 17 rebounds.

Newcomer Sarah Plemons enjoyed a very good Petrel debut, scoring 13 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and passing out a game-high seven assists. Senior forward Sydni Donovan added 10 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 13 rebounds.

The Petrels shot 44.4 percent from the field and held Birmingham-Southern to a 29.4 percent mark. Oglethorpe also made six of their nine 3-point attempts and outrebounded the Panthers by a whopping 78-53 margin. The teams combined for 192 field goal attempts over the course of the game. 

Oglethorpe scored at least 20 points in all four quarters. They turned a 9-8 deficit midway through the first into a 22-13 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes, going on a 12-0 run at one point in the latter half of the period. They went on to pull away to as much as a 35-point lead, outscoring the Panthers 27-14 in the second quarter and 31-21 in the third. They led 67-32 with 4:40 left in the third quarter before cruising to the season-opening victory.

The same two teams will be back in action Saturday afternoon from Birmingham, as the Petrels and Panthers will complete their two-game set at 2 p.m. Eastern from Bill Battle Coliseum.