MT. BERRY, Ga. — The No. 3 seed Millsaps College women's basketball team played a tremendous game to earn the 2026 Southern Athletic Association Women's Basketball Championship by downing No. 1 seed Trinity University, 72-66 on Saturday inside the Cage Center.
Millsaps (21-7) secured its second SAA postseason crown in program history and the second in the last three seasons.
The Majors bested Trinity (16-11) to secure an automatic bid into the 2026 NCAA Championship. An NCAA Selection Show will take place at ncaa.com at 1:30 p.m. CT. on Monday.
On Saturday, Millsaps earned a 46-26 advantage in the paint and forced 23 Tiger turnovers. The Majors turned those into 21 points.
The back-and-forth contest featured 12 lead changes and six ties. Millsaps outshot the Tigers 40.3 percent (27-of-67) to 35.1 percent (26-of-74). Trinity hit 10 treys at 33 percent to keep the game close.
Junior
Garin Freeman was tremendous with 27 points (10-of-18 FG), eight rebounds, and five assists.
Senior
Elyse Warren recorded a double-double with 17 points (6-of-11 FG) and 17 rebounds.
Junior
Tia Anderson matched 17 points, adding eight rebounds. Both Freeman and Anderson played in all 40 minutes.
Classmate
Bailey Johnson netted eight points, five rebounds and an assist.
Freeman was named the SAA Women's Basketball Tournament MVP, while Anderson made the SAA Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team.
Johnson opened the scoring on the game's first shot with a 3-pointer. After Millsaps pulled ahead 8-2, the Tigers fought back for the lead. Johnson made a beautiful pass to Warren in transition to make it 14-13 later on.
The great opening quarter continued for Johnson when she sank a trey after Freeman dribbled around the offensive zone and kicked it out to her wide open teammate.
The teams would stay close throughout the second quarter before Trinity hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer. Millsaps trailed by a narrow 38-34 margin.
After the Tigers opened the third quarter with a trey, Freeman began to heat up with a pull-up, drive, and floater to push Millsaps out front, 45-44.
Warren added a put back and Freeman posted another run to the hoop to make it 49-46.
Trinity responded by scoring the next five points, but Freeman would make one final statement to close the third quarter. The point guard scored just before the buzzer and converted an and-one with a free throw. Millsaps took a 52-51 margin entering the fourth.
The game became knotted up at 56-56 before Freeman responded with an up-and-under. She added a block with authority moments later.
Freeman then extended the advantage with a steal and a fastbreak layup, making it 61-56 with 4:37 to go.
Anderson then put her stamp on the finish by connecting on a trey, free throw, steal and layup. Her stellar work on both ends of the court pushed the score to 67-59.
Trinity scored a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five with 3:35 on the clock. However, both teams played strong defense the rest of the way and traded free throws. The Tigers also added a layup, but it was not enough as the Majors were able to earn a 72-66 triumph and become conference champions.
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 and 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.
