The Centre women's basketball team suffered its first Southern Athletic Association loss of the season, falling 77-70 at Berry on Sunday in Rome, Ga.

The game had been back and forth through the early second half before Berry took control with a 14-0 run during a stretch in which the Colonels went 8:58 without a field goal. What had been a 42-35 Centre lead after the Colonels scored the first five points of the half quickly turned into a 49-42 deficit.

Berry never trailed again, building its lead to as many as 10 points on two occasions. Centre would score six straight points to cut the margin to 69-65 on an Alexis Guy (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) 3-pointer with 52 seconds left, but Berry went 8-of-8 from the free throw line to close out the game.

Paige Baechle (Gallatin, Tenn.) led Centre with 22 points and 11 rebounds, her fifth straight double double and 15th in 17 games. Alanna Guy (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) added 13 points for the Colonels, while Mary Gordon Stough (Louisville, Ky.) had 11 rebounds. Megan Walsh came off the bench to score a game-high 24 points for Berry.

The first half began with the Colonels opening the game with a 12-2 run, only to see the Vikings come back with a 14-2 run of their own. The two teams would battle back and forth until Centre took a 37-35 lead to halftime.

Berry shot 48 percent (28-of-58) from the field to Centre's 36 percent (26-of-72), and 37 percent (7-of-19) from outside to the Colonels' 31 percent (4-of-13). Centre held a 48-32 rebounding advantage.

With the loss, Centre drops to 11-6 overall and 5-1 in SAA competition. Berry improves to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in the conference. The Colonels are back on the road again next weekend when they travel to Hendrix on Friday and Rhodes on Sunday.