Birmingham, AL - The Millsaps Women's Basketball Team fell in the Conference Tournament Championship to Birmingham Southern earlier today by a score of 52-42.
 
The Majors fell just short in the championship matchup, as they end the season with an overall record of 19-9, 11-3 in conference.  After trailing by two points at the half, the Majors were outscored 32-24 in the final twenty minutes of play.  With the win, the Panthers end a nine game win streak by the Majors and secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Millsaps started the game positive by playing effective defense.  At the end of the first period, both teams stood tied 10-10 in the low scoring contest.  With 60 seconds remaining in the first half, Birmingham Southern led 20-15.  The Majors however, gained some positive momentum with three straight points via Kim Klunk to only trail 20-18 at the half.
 
After the intermission, the Majors tied the game 20-20.  From there, the Panthers took the lead on an 8-0 run – and never looked back.  Leading by nine points at the end of the third quarter, Birmingham Southern never trailed again en route to a 10-point win.
 
For the second half, the Panthers held an overall shooting percentage of 45% from the field while the Majors shot 28%.  Senior Miah Brooks led the Majors with 12 points while Kim Klunk finished close behind with 11.
 
Braxton Thomas totaled nine points as she and Brooks led in rebounds with seven each.  Junior Kala-Jewel Freeman led in blocks with three as well.
 
Despite the loss, the Majors end an incredibly successful run with five players named All-Conference and two named to the All-Tournament team.  Both Miah Brooks and Kala-Jewel Freeman earn All-Tournament honors for the weekend.
 
Brooks also finishes the season as a First Team All-SAA selection.  The future for Millsaps Women's Basketball is also very positive with four of the five All-SAA selections returning next year. 
 
Defensive Player of the Year Braxton Thomas and All-SAA selections Kala-Jewel Freeman, Kim Klunk and Kasi Matthews will return for the Majors after a successful 2015-16 campaign.
 
The Majors graduate three outstanding seniors this semester as well.  Seniors Miah Brooks, Mahalia Crawford and Beverly Holmes all graduate this season after positively growing the Women's Basketball program and Millsaps Community during their years as Majors.  Collectively, the three have help accumulate a 32-1 home record at the Hangar Dome while appearing in three conference tournament championships as well.
 
With this season's successful run, outstanding leadership paving the way and motivation for next year, the future for Millsaps Women's Basketball is incredibly bright.  The Majors will now begin the process of growing and training for the 2016-17 campaign, which starts early November of this year.