JACKSON, Miss. – A valiant effort by the Millsaps women's basketball team fell just short to Centre College, 61-57 in the 2025 Southern Athletic Association Women's Basketball Championship on Saturday.

The matchup was a rematch of last season's championship and the third time the two squads faced off during 2024-25. No. 2 seed Centre (21-7, 9-3 SAA) ended a three-game losing streak to the Majors to claim their first SAA postseason title.

Millsaps (22-5), the SAA regular season champions and defending SAA postseason winners, fought wire to wire on Saturday.

The Majors outrebounded the Colonels (45-37) and dominated with second-chance points (13-3). Millsaps was also efficient in scoring 20 points off 17 Centre turnovers.
 
The Colonels though outshot the Majors 36.7 percent (22-of-60) to 27.1 percent (16-of-59) in a lockdown, defensive battle throughout.

Sophomore Garin Freeman paced the Majors with 17 points (11-of-15 FT) and added five rebounds and four assists.
 
Junior Lexus Keyes finished with nine points (6-of-8 FT), a steal, an assist and a board.

Senior Haley Franklin, the program's all-time leading scorer, netted eight points, 10 rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist.

Classmate Whitney Novak added eight points of her own as well as a rebound, block and steal. Sophomore Tia Anderson finished with seven points, four boards and two steals.

Junior Elyse Warren held down the interior with her sixth 15-plus rebound game of the season. She brought down 15 boards and chipped in six points and a steal.

Both Franklin and Freeman were named to the 2025 SAA Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team.

Millsaps opened the game with a 14-3 advantage and closed out the first quarter ahead, 18-11.

The Colonels battled back to tie the game at 22-22, which was the first of eight ties in the contest.

Millsaps answered by closing with a 5-0 run to lead at halftime, 31-26. Novak kicked off the third quarter with a three-pointer before the Colonels grabbed their first lead at 43-42.

Warren tallied a layup and later added a free throw to give the Majors a narrow, 45-43 advantage going into the final quarter.

Neither team could find breathing room down the stretch when Anderson scored a layup to tie the contest at 53-53 with 2:55 to play.

After a Freeman free-throw make, Centre would regain the lead with a jumper in the paint to make it 55-54 with 45 seconds remaining.
 
The visitors stopped Millsaps offensively and contributed four free throws, creating a 59-54 advantage with 19 seconds left.

Millsaps continued to fight with a Keyes free throw and Novak layup. Centre held a 59-57 lead with four seconds on the clock.

The Colonels managed to maintain possession on the ensuing inbounds and added two more free throws to escape with a 61-57 win.

Millsaps will now await and see if they will qualify for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team. The 2025 NCAA DIII women's basketball championship selection show will broadcast at 1:30 p.m. CT on Monday on NCAA.com.
 
2025 SAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Faith Humphrey – Sewanee
Keimarya Rivera – Oglethorpe
Haley Franklin – Millsaps
Garin Freeman – Millsaps
Lilly Reid – Centre
Bailey Rucker – Centre (MVP)
 
 
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.