SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The Millsaps women's basketball team played well on both ends of the court by defeating Trinity University, 73-72 on Sunday. In a tightly contested conference matchup at the Bell Center
Millsaps (15-6, 6-4 SAA) secured the victory over Trinity (13-9, 9-2 SAA), with a crucial 28-point third quarter and capitalized on 11 steals to generate 22 points off turnovers.
The game featured nine ties and 15 lead changes, with the Majors holding off Trinity's late challenge.
Junior Tia Anderson led the team with 20 points and collected 13 rebounds, adding four assists and three steals.
Senior Elyse Warren contributed significantly on the boards, recording 19 rebounds and scoring 17 points.
Junior Garin Freeman scored 16 points and made a defensive impact tying a career-high of five steals.
Senior Maddy Maw added a season-high 11 points, converting three of four attempts from beyond the arc.against the Tigers.
In the beginning of the first quarter, Freeman scored two consecutive layups, giving Millsaps their first pair of points to tie the Tigers at 4-4 in the opening minutes.
Moments later, Freeman continued her lethal performance by attacking the Tigers with a jumper to move the Majors further ahead 10-6.
However in a surprising comeback, the Tigers returned the favor with three minutes remaining, thanks to a three-pointer to scratch the Majors, 17-13.
Continuing her all-around offensive performance Freeman helped the Majors with another crucial jumper, narrowing the score to 17-15 in close action.
The Little Rock, Ark., native finished the first quarter with a strong layup at the basket, despite that Trinity pushed back in against the Majors to take a 24-21 advantage.
In the second quarter Millsaps kept their heads in the game as Maw blanked a three-pointer from beyond the arc to tie the game at 24-24 to put pressure oon the Tigers
Both teams responded with back-to-back points before the Tigers took an eight-point lead with 4:32 remaining in the second quarter.
Trinity led the remainder of the quarter to go into halftime with a 40-31 lead but would be wide awaken by the Majors in the second half
In the third quarter, Anderson drained the Tigers' stamina with back-to-back buckets following a layup and a three-pointer to cut the Major's deficit down by six, 46-32.
With 6:12 left in the quarter, Trinity turned the basketball over, allowing Anderson to take an easy fast-break to the rim for the Majors, narrowing the gap to 44-40.
Millsaps would see their first lead since the first half after Anderson recorded a jumper to tame the Tigers 47-46 with an impressive comeback.
With 1:41 minutes on the clock, Freeman found Warren under the basket with a no-look pass to put the contest into a 49-49 draw for both teams.
In a tense final quarter, Trinity edged ahead early with a series of successful plays, including layups bringing the score to 64-59.
The Majors responded with a 3-pointer from junior Bailey Johnson at 6:23, narrowing the gap to 64-62. The teams traded leads in a back-and-forth battle, with Millsaps' Freeman hitting a crucial jumper at 2:11 to tie the game at 70.
In the closing seconds, Freeman's free throw at 0:03 secured a narrow 73-72 victory for the Majors as Millsaps celebrated their triumph over the Tigers on Trinity's Senior Day in Texas.
The Majors will now return home to face Centre College on Friday beginning at 5:30 p.m. inside the Hangar Dome Live video and live stats will be provided 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 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.
