DANVILLE- The Centre Colonels closed the game on a 15-4 run, breaking a 44-44 tie and defeating the Millsaps Majors 59-48 on Friday night.
Kala-Jewel Freeman was the lone Majors in double figures, leading a balanced effort with 13 points.
Millsaps fought off the first blow from the Colonels, a 11-2 run in the game's opening four minutes. The Majors didn't panic and responded with an 8-0 run of their own over the next four minutes to close the gap to 11-10. The Majors got buckets from four different players during the run.
The Majors took their first lead of the game after Beverly Holmes set up Freeman for a layup, giving Millsaps a 18-16 lead. The two teams would trade baskets for the remainder of the half, neither team able to get more than a three-point lead. Freeman hit a free throw with a little over a minute left in the half, it served as the opening 20's final point and the Majors entered the locker room up 26-25.
The second half picked up right where the first left off, the teams continuing to trade baskets. An early three from Holmes gave the Majors a 31-28 advantage. Two straight possessions of Freeman free throws gave Millsaps its largest lead at 35-30 with 15 minutes left. Freeman on the night was an impressive 7 of 8 from the charity stripe.
A 9-0 run by Centre erased the Major lead. A pair of threes by Bria Johnson made it 41-38 Majors, capping a 6-0 response by Millsaps and continued the back-and-forth trend of the evening.
The game would be tied at 44 with five and a half left in the contest. That is when Centre went on one final run. Paige Baechle scored 10 of her game-high 16 over the final five minutes, leading the Colonels to victory. Centre put together three runs during the game, the Majors ran out of time in answering the final one.
The loss drops Millsaps to 5-6 overall and 0-2 in SAA play. They will look to rebound against the Sewanee Tigers on Sunday with a 1pm central time tip.
A few notes from the game
Centre had a 37-24 rebound edge, but just a 9-4 advantage on second-chance points...Millsaps turned 12 Centre turnovers into 14 points...Sam Perez had five assists and a game-high four steals...Baechle had a game-high 13 rebounds to go with her game-high 16 points...The game had seven ties and 12 lead changes.
