ROME, Ga.—Eight players entered the scoring column led by Keimarya Rivera with 12 points and 11 rebounds, but a bucket in the last minute of the game sent the Oglethorpe women's basketball team to a 49-48 heartbreaking loss to Berry in the Southern Athletic Association tournament on Thursday.

The loss closed the door on a remarkable season for the Stormy Petrels, who finished tied for runner-up in the league at 17-9 (9-5 SAA) with Rivera becoming the fifth player in program history to win conference athlete of the year honors. The team's 17 wins marked the most since the 2019-20 team went 29-1 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament.

Oglethorpe went out to a 13-3 lead through the first quarter and looked well on its way to a dominating win. Rivera then scored a basket midway through the second quarter to give the Petrels their largest lead at 21-9, but Berry answered 6-0 runs in both the third and fourth quarters to climb back.

It was then 47-41 with just over four minutes to go before the Vikings finished the game on an 8-1 run. They closed the gap to one, the narrowest the margin had been since the score was tied 0-0, near the 1:30-mark the scored the final go-ahead basket with 21 seconds left. Oglethorpe managed a good look on the final possession of the game but missed.

Game Notes

• Rivera's 12 points and 11 rebounds marked her 12th double-double of the season. This ranks fourth all-time on Oglethorpe's single-season list.
• Rivera finished her career with 39 double-doubles, ranking second all-time.
• In addition to athlete of the year honors, Rivera finished her career as the SAA's all-time leading scorer with 1,744 career points. This ranks fourth all-time in Oglethorpe history. 
• Next in the scoring column for Oglethorpe was Marlie Battle and Anna Conza with seven apiece. Malie Melton and Jaden Winfrey both scored six.
• Freshman Lauren Phillip followed Rivera in the rebounding column with a career high eight rebounds.