ATLANTA—In the 2025-2026 home opener, the Oglethorpe women's basketball team took on the Huntington College Hawks and came away with a dominating 85-48 win. Senior Keimarya Rivera led the Petrels to their third straight win to start the season after tallying 20 points and 11 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action. Briley Elder was a sharpshooter going 4-for-6 on 3-point territory and tallying 14 points.

A slow start by the Petrels allowed for the Hawks' defense to go to work and push the score to be close in the first quarter. Three back-to-back free throws from Rivera and Marlie Battle gave the Petrels the lead and offensive wind they needed. Elder drained two threes in one minute to make the score 19-10, the Petrels' largest lead of the quarter.

Another good 3-pointer by Elder in the second quarter increased the Petrels' lead to 28-19 and they never looked back. Driving to the basket, Brooke Herdman made a good layup and drew the foul where she extended the Stormy Petrel lead to 15 points. The perimeter offense from the Petrels really heated up as Elder made her third 3-pointer followed by an additional three from Jaden Winfrey. The team was 42 % (3-7) on three pointers in the quarter and 53% (8-15) from the field.

Running away with the score, the Hawks could not slow down Oglethorpe. A layup from Malia Melton pushed the lead to 54-30, who was responsible for one of the five rebounds in the third quarter. Anna Conza and Aliyah Shaffer each made a three along with help from Lauren Phillip, scoring two.

The third quarter was Oglethorpe's best offensive run, with perfect numbers on threes (3-3) and scoring 66 % (8-12) from the field.

This lead opened up many opportunities to see more of the depth on the Stormy Petrel roster. The fourth quarter featured fresh legs in Ashton Jones, Callie Cavender, Channing Segars, Sarah Kate Evans, Kamaria McDermott, Abby Scott and Genny Rogers. Jones and Winfrey tied the lead of the quarter in points, each with five. Rogers and Gaby LoPresti recorded three rebounds and Segars tallied two. Maintaining the 37-point lead allowed for the Petrels to finish the game 85-48.

Match Notes

• McDermott, Scott, Evans, Segars, Cavender and Jones made their season debut.
• Oglethorpe scored 24 points off turnovers to Huntingdon's 17.
• The Petrels scored 43 points off the bench.
• Rivera recorded her second double-double of the season.
• The Petrels have met the Hawks 11 times. Their all- time record increased to 7-4.

Up Next

Oglethorpe is back on the road to face Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m.