CONWAY, Ark.— The Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels were lights out from the field as they soared past the Warriors of Hendrix College 76-64 on Sunday. This victory marked the 11th straight win for Oglethorpe over Hendrix, dating back to 2018.
After a couple of lead changes in the initial minutes of the first quarter, the Petrels led the Warriors by a basket or two for the majority of the entire first quarter. Oglethorpe, able to capitalize off Warrior turnovers, had six points off of turnovers in the first quarter to put them ahead 16-14 after the first 10 minutes of action.
Freshman Keimarya Rivera opened up the scoring in the second quarter for the Petrels with a layup good for two of her team-high 17 points in the contest. The Warriors gave the Petrels an equal fight in the second, with both teams scoring 17 points in the quarter. Both teams' largest lead in the quarter was three points, as well. Oglethorpe would hold onto the lead 33-31 going into the second half.
The Petrels started to pull away in the third quarter with a 6-1 scoring run in the middle of the quarter and an 8-2 run to close out the quarter. Oglethorpe's seven-point lead they took into the final quarter of play was the largest of the contest so far.
The story stayed true in the fourth quarter. The Petrels defeated the Warriors, closing out the game with a 9-4 scoring run to win 76-64 and keep the win streak against Hendrix alive and well.
Sunday's victory came by an all-around team effort with four Petrels scoring double digits and three Petrels one bucket shy of double digits. In addition to Rivera's 17, Mahkayla Premo and Olivia Tucker each dropped 10 points, Premo recorded eight rebounds and five assists on a team-high 32 minutes of game time. Tucker's 10 points were good for her a new career high.
Local talent Gabby Hudson continued to dominate, as the Atlanta native recorded 11 points, five rebounds and four assists while shooting 50% from the field.
With this win, the Stormy Petrels improved to 8-9 on the season, 2-5 in Southern Athletic Association play as Oglethorpe reached the halfway mark through SAA conference play.
Up Next
After traveling to Memphis, Tennessee, and Conway, Arkansas, the Stormy Petrels return to Dorough Field House to host the Lynx of Rhodes College and the Warriors of Hendrix College after just returning from playing at those respective institutions. Tip-off against Rhodes is set for Friday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m., and the rematch between the Petrels and Warriors is set for Sunday, Jan. 29, at 12 p.m.
