MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - The Oglethorpe women's basketball team put together a complete performance Thursday evening in Mount Berry, Ga., defeating Berry, 82-76, in the SAA opener for both teams.

The Stormy Petrels led 42-40 at halftime and came out of the locker room on fire. The squad made their first five shots after the break and wound up starting the half on a 25-3 spurt, ballooning their lead to 67-45 with 11:53 remaining in the game. Senior guard Kyana Jenkins scored nine points during the stretch. 

However, Berry slowly worked their way back into the game. They had the lead down to 11 with 7:54 left, then went on another spurt to cut the Petrel lead to just three points, 74-71, with 2:10 left. In all, the home-standing Vikings went on a 26-7 run over a 9:40 stretch to get back into the game.

The Petrels closed well, though. Freshman guard Ciara Hughes hit a big baseline jump shot to put the team back up by five points with 1:20 to go. Then, after Berry brought the spread back to three again, sophomore guard Emily Buck went 4-for-4 from the line in the last minute on a couple of one-and-one situations to ice the game. After she made the last of her four free throws, the Petrels led by seven with 20 seconds remaining and they held on from there for the victory.

Buck and freshman forward McKenzie Fortson proved to be the second-half stars for Oglethorpe. Fortson scored 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the half, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Buck had 11 points, including the all-important 4-for-4 at the line. As a team, the Petrels shot 85.7 percent (6-of-7) from 3-point range in the second half.

The first half had much the same story arc as the second. The two teams traded baskets early on, but then the Petrels went on a 20-5 run over a 6-minute period and took a 30-19 lead with 8:28 remaining in the half. Not to be outdone, Berry came back with a huge run, similar to their second-half run, and cut the lead back down to a single point, 41-40, with 45 seconds remaining in the half. The Petrels went into the locker room with a two-point lead. The Petrels shot 51.6 percent in the opening stanza.

For the game, Oglethorpe shot 50 percent from both the field and the 3-point line. Berry shot 38.5 and 42.9 percent, respectively. The Petrels outshot Berry from the line, 72.2-to-68 percent. The Petrels outrebounded the Vikings, 42-38. The Petrels had 14 turnovers and Berry scored 23 points off of them, but the Petrels outscored Berry 28-7 off the bench.

Fortson led the way for the Petrels, scoring 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting, 5-of-7 three-point shooting, and 2-of-2 free-throw shooting. Buck scored 17 points, knocked down 6-of-6 free throws, and passed out four assists. Hughes recorded her second straight double-double, pouring in 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 4-of-5 free-throw shooting, and grabbing 12 rebounds. Jenkins had 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds, and passed out four assists.

The win improves the Petrels to 2-5, 1-0 in SAA play. They will next travel to Lookout Mountain, Ga., on Saturday to take on Covenant for the second time this season. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.