JACKSON, Miss. -- The Millsaps Women's Basketball team lost their season opener at Belhaven University 72-68.

In a close, competitive game from the jump, the Majors played Belhaven close every step of the way in the face of a raucous crowd in the building. After the first quarter where Braxton Thomas racked up a majority of her game-leading four assists, Millsaps led Belhaven 15-12. Belhaven then jumped out to a big second quarter, knocking down a bunch of tough three pointers to take the lead 32-27 at halftime.

The third quarter was tight, and ended with Belhaven going into the fourth quarter with a 56-48 lead. Then, in the fourth quarter, aided by strong scoring and rebounding by Kala-Jewel Freeman and a late display of scoring and defense, the Majors pushed back and tied the game at 68-68 before missing the potential game winning shot after a Belhaven bucket.

Millsaps Women's Basketball was led by the performance of Kala-Jewel Freeman who led the team in both points and rebounds with 25 and 10. Brazia Jones was second on the team in scoring with 14 points on five for 10 shooting from the field. Katie Connor also reached double figures with 12 points and a majority of them coming during the late 4th quarter push. Braxton Thomas was the game's leader with four assists despite being held back by foul trouble all night.

The Majors ended the night shooting 24-64 from the field and 4-24 from three point range.

Millsaps Women's Basketball will be back in action this weekend in the SCAC/SAA Challenge. Follow the Major Women's Basketball team and the rest of Millsaps athletics on Facebook at Millsaps Major Athletics, Twitter @MajorAtheltics, and Instagram @GoMajors. Show you support for your favorite team by using the hashtags GoMajors and MajorPlay.