MT. BERRY, Ga. (CentreColonels.com) – The Centre women's basketball team held a lead over host Berry after three quarters in a Southern Athletic Association (SAA) matchup on Sunday afternoon, but the Vikings would outscore the Colonels 20-12 in the final period of action to earn a 53-47 victory over the Colonels at the Cage Center.

Centre falls to 3-11 overall and 1-2 in SAA play, while Berry improves to 7-7 on the season, including a 1-2 mark in conference action.

With the score knotted after the first quarter, the Colonels scored 10 unanswered points to start the second stanza capped by 3-pointers by sophomore guard Lakken Miller (Liberty, Ky.) and junior guard Olivia Schad (Cincinnati, Ohio) to put Centre ahead 16-6 with just over six minutes to play in the first half.

The Vikings responded with a 9-3 surge to shrink the Colonels' advantage to four points at 19-15 with two minutes showing on the clock. Centre would take a four-point edge into the break at 21-17.

The Colonels opened the third quarter with two straight baskets from sophomore forwards Day Vance (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Abigail Stewart (LaGrange, Ky.) to give Centre a 25-17 lead.

Berry answered with an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to 29-28 with 4:44 to play in the quarter.

The Colonels owned a 35-33 advantage after three periods, when the Vikings opened the fourth quarter with a 9-1 spurt to go ahead 42-36 with 6:52 remaining in the game, a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the contest.

Late in the game, Berry's Rosie Lynch connected on the back end of a pair of free throws to put the Vikings on top 49-45, before freshman guard Ami Ballard (Louisville, Ky.) made a layup on the other end to cut the Berry lead to 49-47 with 16 ticks showing on the clock.

However, Berry's Ashley McKee and Christine Cerezola combined to go 4-of-4 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the win for the Vikings.

Vance paced Centre with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go with a game-high nine rebounds.

Sophomore forward Lauren Moore (Milton, Ky.) chipped in 10 markers on the bench for the Colonels, while Stewart matched a game-high with nine boards in the game.

Alex Weems dropped in a game-high 15 points with eight rebounds to lead Berry in the win.

Centre shot 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the field, 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from behind the arc and 50.0 percent (6-of-12) from the charity stripe, while the Vikings connected on 38.0 percent (19-of-50) of field goals, 20.0 percent (2-of-10) of shots from downtown and 61.9 percent (13-of-21) of free throws.

Berry held a 43-35 rebounding advantage in the contest.

The Colonels return home to host Rhodes in an SAA showdown on Friday, Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. at Alumni Gymnasium.