ATLANTA – The Oglethorpe women's basketball team played the Southern Athletic Association frontrunner an even game through three quarters but in the end came up short, 71-61, to Centre Friday night inside Dorough Field House.
Freshman Keimarya Rivera led the way with 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting. She added six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and three steals. Fellow freshman Malia Melton followed next with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
Oglethorpe trailed by double digits in the early going but used a 21-4 run in the second quarter to surge into the lead. The run featured 12 points from Rivera, and Mahkayla Premo gave the Stormy Petrels the lead with a layup with two and a half minutes left in the half.
Oglethorpe held onto that lead, increasing it to as many as nine in the second half, until Centre, the only remaining undefeated team in the SAA, went on a 15-6 run to send the game into a tie heading into the fourth.
Melton gave the Petrels the lead on the opening possession of the final quarter, but it was nearly all Colonels the rest of the way.
Game Notes
- Seven Petrels made their way into the scoring column.
- Morgan Skipper had another hot shooting night from the perimeter with three makes on four attempts from downtown.
- Skipper finished with nine points alongside five rebounds.
- Rivera's three steals were a career high.
- Rivera's game-high 23 points included 19 in the first half.
Up Next
Oglethorpe welcomes Sewanee on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 1 p.m. The Petrels will then be on the road the following weekend before returning home for the two weekends after that.
