JACKSON, Miss. – The Millsaps women's basketball team found an extra surge late to storm past the No. 4 seed Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels, 63-58 in the SAA Women's Basketball Championship Semifinal inside the Hangar Dome on Friday.
Senior Haley Franklin led No. 1 seed Millsaps (22-4) with a double-double. She recorded 18 points and tied a career-high of 13 rebounds.
The Baton Rouge, La., native also posted five assists, two blocks and one steal.
Junior Elyse Warren erupted with a double-double as well. The Memphis, Tenn., native recorded 16 points and 11 rebounds. The forward shot 7-of-11 from the floor.
Senior Emily Adams and junior Lexus Keyes both registered eight points against the Stormy Petrels.
Millsaps (22-4, 10-2 SAA) outnumbered Oglethorpe (15-12, 5-7 SAA), 29-11 in bench points and 36-24 from points inside the paint.
The Stormy Petrels also fell behind 9-5 in fast break points, 15-8 in points off turnovers and 17-8 in second chance points.
Oglethorpe did hold the Majors to 14.8 percent (4-of-27) from the three-point line and 31.6 percent overall (24-of-76) to stay close.
A senior Taylor Frank (six points, seven rebounds) layup inside the paint gave the Majors their first pair of points. Franklin made two free throws from the charity stripe to extend the Major lead to 4-0.
Moments later, a layup by Oglethorpe put the contest into a 7-7 draw. Both teams exchanged points for the remainder of the first quarter.
However, Warren's layup at the buzzer kept the Majors on top, leading 15-13.
In the second quarter, both teams battled hard. Sophomore Garin Freeman (two steals, five rebounds) grabbed a steal and pushed the ball ahead to Franklin for a layup to move the Majors ahead by seven, 24-17.
With 1:28 until halftime, the Stormy Petrels responded with a layup and a 7-0 run to capture their second lead of the contest.
Keyes later made a free throw tying the game at 30-30, going into halftime.
Oglethorpe looked poised to pull away in the third quarter, outscoring the Majors 18-11. However, Millsaps held a 22-10 margin in the fourth frame and closed the game on a 20-5 run.
Warren cut the deficit to five points at 48-43 with a powerful layup in the opening seconds of the fourth.
She then completed an and-one opportunity before Adams came to life with a three-pointer and a layup to tie the game at 53-53 midway into the quarter.
Keyes and Anderson brought the Hangar Dome to a roar when they both netted long range, clutch shots to pull Millsaps ahead by one both times.
The defenses stymied each other down the stretch with Freeman and Franklin adding three free-throw makes to give the Majors a 62-58 margin with 1:37 to play.
The visitors failed to score further down the stretch and Franklin added one more make from the line to give Millsaps a 63-58 victory.
The Majors will next face No. 2 seed Centre College in the SAA Championship, beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Live video and live stats will be available at gomajors.com.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the Millsaps College women's basketball program follow the Majors on X and Instagram, like Millsaps Majors Athletics on Facebook or visit gomajors.com.
Founded in Jackson, Mississippi in 1890, Millsaps College is a national liberal arts college dedicated to academic excellence, open inquiry and free expression, the exploration of faith to inform vocation and the innovative shaping of the social, economic and cultural progress of our region. Consistently ranked as one of the best values in higher education, Millsaps has been praised by Colleges That Change Lives, The Princeton Review, Forbes Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The John Templeton Foundation, and The Fiske Guide to Colleges.
