By MacKenzie Tuttle for berryvikings.com

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Led by freshman Zarriah Pierce's 24 points, the Berry College women's basketball team opened up conference play with a 70-69 at Oglethorpe University on Thursday night.

The win improved the Vikings to 5-2 overall and a 1-0 in the Southern Athletic Association. The loss dropped the Stormy Petrels to 4-4 overall and 0-1 in the SAA.

Although Oglethorpe opened up the game with two baskets to quickly gain a 4-0 lead, BC fought back and by halftime the Vikings were up 35-26. Pierce had 16 first-half points.

Oglethorpe's Ciaira Hughes shot a layup to tie the game at 48 points a piece. BC never let Oglethorpe take the lead in the second half. Emily Buck's last second 3-pointer cut the deficit to one-point for the home team.

Pierce ignited the Berry offense, collecting 24 points on the night. She was 8-12 shooting and was 3-6 from 3-point range. Pierce also went 5-7 from the free throw line for the Vikings.

"We didn't shoot the ball well, but played hard and showed character in order to get the win," said Berry Head Coach Stephanie Dunn.  "It's very big for us to open up conference play with a win on our opponents' home court."

There were two other BC players in double digits in the win: Chanlir Segarra and Emma Cook.

Cook added 16 points for Berry and was 3-5 shooting. She was also 10-14 from the free throw line and had seven rebounds. Segarra posted 13 points and was 7-8 from the free throw line. Segarra also passed seven assists and grabbed four rebounds in the win for the Vikings.

Overall, the Vikings bested the Stormy Petrels in almost every offensive category including field goal percentage (39.6 to 35.2) and free throws (26-35 to 13-21).

For Oglethorpe, Hughes also led the offense with a game-best 28 points. She was 12-19 in the shooting and added 15 rebounds in the loss.

The Vikings look to pick up their second win in a row as they play at Covenant College on Saturday at 2 p.m.​