By Matthew D. Stokes, BerryVikings.com Lead Writer

ROME, Ga. – Berry's women's basketball team trailed by as many as 24 points in the first half, and ended up losing to Southern Athletic Association opponent Centre, 72-50, on Sunday afternoon at the Cage Center.

Chanlir Segarra led Berry with 20 points, and Tara Mullinax had 10 points and seven rebounds. Paige Baechle totaled game highs of 22 points and 14 rebounds for Centre. Maggie Hartlage tacked on 11 points for the Colonels.

Centre shot 50 percent on the afternoon, including 60 percent in the first half, while Berry knocked down 24.3 percent of its shots.

Berry dropped to 10-10 overall and 5-5 in SAA games. Centre upped its record to 10-10 and 8-2.

"I think we started off with good energy and worked hard," said Head Coach Stephanie Dunn. "Centre was definitely hot. It's just hard to overcome that. I felt like we probably could've closed out a little better."

After trailing by one point during the opening three minutes of the game, Berry fell behind by double digits after Centre went on a 16-6 run. Alexa Evans drained a three-pointer as the halftime buzzer sounded, but Berry still trailed, 46-25.

In the second half, Centre continued scoring and found itself ahead by 31 points with less than three minutes remaining.

"You have games like [this] where a team comes in and shoots 50 percent," Dunn said. "It happens. We'll just go back to work and get ready to play the next game."

"Probably for the most part, I think we played hard," Mullinax said. "I feel like we just have to keep on playing hard and build off each other's emotions."

Berry will return to action on Friday evening at SAA foe Rhodes College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Mallory Gymnasium in Memphis, Tenn.