JACKSON – The Millsaps Majors Women's Basketball Team saw their 15-game winning streak come to a close on Friday night as they struggled to get anything going against a tough Birmingham-Southern defense. The Panthers held Millsaps to 31% shooting from the field as they pulled away in the second half to take a 59-45 win.
From the start the Majors struggled to get anything going as BSC rushed out to a 7-0 lead. The Majors fired right back, cutting it down to one, but the Panthers used tough defense to keep Millsaps out of the paint area.
Things only got worse for the Majors inside game as both senior Janice Okeke and junior Shante Morton picked up two fouls around the 10-minute mark and found themselves on the bench.
The Panthers took advantage, running their lead to 10, but the Majors fought back and got the score down to 31-24 going into the break. The Panthers had gotten to the free throw line 10 times while Millsaps did not see the charity stripe at all in the first half.
BSC started things off well in the second half as they buried a three to increase their lead to double digits. From there, it seemed the Majors could not garner any momentum.
Junior Lovie Love drained a three at 14:01 mark to cut the lead to nine, but the Panthers responded instantly with a three by Caroline King to go back up by 12.
The Panthers held on from their, keeping their lead in double digits. Every time Millsaps attempted to make a run and get back into it, the Panthers had an answer.
With the loss, the Majors fall to 18-3 overall and 10-2 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Confernece as they remain in the second place in the Eastern Division.
Freshman Velvet Johnson led Millsaps with 15 points while fellow freshman Samantha Perez had seven. The Panthers shut down Morton, who only had five points, and Okeke, who only put up two points.
The Panthers also got to the free throw line as they saw it 21 times to Millsaps' 11. BSC was led by Melanie Short who picked up 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Millsaps returns to action as they take on the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels on Sunday. Tip off is set for 1 p.m. at The Hangar Dome.
