IRVING, Texas – In a rematch of an earlier played game in Jackson on Dec. 2 in which Millsaps came away with a 57-41 win, the homestanding University of Dallas used a game-high 23 points and 11 boards from Cara Sczepanski to edge the Majors 61-58.
In a back-and-forth ballgame that featured eight ties and four lead changes, it was Sczepanski's jumper with 58 seconds left that broke a 55-55 tie and Shanie Cardinal's clutch free throws with 4 seconds remaining that gave the home team the three-point win.
Millsaps (2-11, 0-5 SCAC) took its largest lead of the game in the opening period at the 8:40 mark, putting together an 8-1 run, capped by freshman Ronda Webb's jumper for the early 17-12 lead. The Majors shot 40 percent in the frame, erasing two poor-shooting performances in the opening half of the previous two games on the three-game road trip.
Dallas (9-7) scored the final basket of the opening half to take a 27-25 lead into intermission before Millsaps regained the lead momentarily at 30-28 off a Megan Bauerle 3-point basket.
The teams traded buckets the remainder of the game and neither team led by more than five points the final 7:09, as LaReina Adams hit a jumper at the 1:25 mark to score two of her 10 points and tie the game at 55-55.
A pair of jumpers from the Lady Crusaders gave them a 59-55 lead before a 3-pointer from Tiffany Whitmore with 6 seconds left brought the game to within one.
From there, the Majors fouled immediately to put Dallas on the line where Cardinal hit both free throws. A desperation 3-ball from Crystal Dickerson as time expired fell short and the home team escaped with the win to split the season series.
Dickerson tied a career-high with 22 points to go along with her eight rebounds to lead the Majors, while Adams and Krista Clark chipped in 10 points apiece. Whitmore added a team/career-high seven assists in addition to a team-high nine boards, while freshman Kristy Dowdy knocked down a pair of 3s for six points.
Millsaps will open a two-game homestand at the Hangar Dome this weekend, playing host to Oglethorpe University on Friday at 6 p.m. before a Sunday tipoff with Sewanee at 1 p.m. The Jackson Academy "Little Dribblers" will perform at halftime of Friday night's game.
