JACKSON- The Millsaps Majors held the Birmingham Southern Panthers to just three first half field goals and withstood a second half charge in a 59-48 win on Saturday. 

The win evens the Majors' conference mark at 2-2 as they earned a season series split with the Panthers and improved to 7-6 overall on the season. 

The Majors clamped down on the Birmingham Southern offense in the first half. After an early bucket seconds into the game, the Majors would hold the Panthers without a field goal for the next six minutes. A three-point play from Kala-Jewel Freeman gave the Majors the lead at 5-3, one they would not give up the rest of the contest. 

Bria Johnson offered a quick spark off the bench, scoring five straight points to give the Majors a 10-5 lead. The Majors kept their foot on the gas pedal, pushing the lead to double digits after a Samantha Perez jumper. Velvet Johnson got going late in the first half, hitting a trio of jumpers to push the Majors lead to as many as 20. Johnson's buzzer-beating jumper sent the Majors to the half with a 30-10 lead. 

The Panthers left their cold shooting in the locker room as they scored five quick points to cut the Majors lead to 30-15. Miah Brooks cashed in a pair of lay-ups in the post to keep the Panthers at bay. BSC would start to get hot from long range, a pair of threes cut the Majors lead to 11. Again, the Majors answer was in the low post. Another bucket by Brooks and a three-point play from Kim Klunk pushed the lead back out to 16. 

The Panthers would continue to charge, cutting the lead to 11 on numerous occasions. The Majors had the answer every time. Beverly Holmes hit a deep three as the shot clock was expiring to push the lead to 53-40 with under three minutes to go. 

The Panthers would not mount another threat, scoring a pair of buckets in garbage time as time was expiring. The Majors improved to 7-6 overall and 2-2 in conference while BSC fell to 6-8 overall and 2-2 in conference. The Majors will look for a weekend sweep as they take on Rust tomorrow evening at five. 

A few notes from the game

Velvet Johnson had a game-high 19 points...Miah Brooks narrowly missed on a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds...The Majors outscored the Panthers 26-6 in the paint...Millsaps held a 38-29 rebounding edge but just an 8-7 second-chance points advantage...Sydney McLendon led BSC with 14 points off the bench.