The Centre women's basketball team used a run several minutes into the second half to build a double digit lead and held on for a 65-58 victory over the Berry Vikings on Friday evening.

Maggie Hartlage (Louisville, Ky.) led the way for the Colonels with a season high 26 points on 8-16 shooting, including 4-7 from three-point range. Olivia Colliver (Mount Sterling, Ky.) added 11 along with a team high seven rebounds. The Colonels assisted on 13 of their 18 made baskets, led by Alexis Guy (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and Caroline Andreassen (Palm Harbor, Fla.) with four apiece. Zarriah Pierce led the Vikings with 13 points.

Berry led for the majority of the first half thanks to timely three-point shooting and offensive rebounding. Centre clawed back late in the half and retook the lead at 24-22 on a three-pointer by Hartlage. Free throws by Guy and Hartlage provided the Colonels with a 28-26 lead as they headed into the locker room for halftime.

The Colonels extended their lead to 42-31 seven minutes into the final frame with a basket by Colliver sandwiched between a three-pointer and a pair of free throws by Kendall Lewis (Nashville, Tenn.) Berry quickly cut the lead to seven points, but then another Centre run gave the Colonels their largest lead of the night, capped off by another Hartlage three. Berry would make one final charge, cutting the lead to 54-52, but Hartlage responded with a pair of free throws and a layup on consecutive possessions to return the cushion to the Colonels, who scored their final five points from the free throw line to ice the game.

Free throw shooting proved crucial for Centre, who connected on 21-28 attempts from the line versus 4-10 shooting by the Vikings. The Colonels also won the turnover battle 17-12 and forced the Vikings to shoot just 35.4% from the floor for the game.

Next up for the Centre women's basketball team will be a 1 p.m. tilt in Alumni Gym against the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels.