Box Score
JACKSON – Freshman forwards
Shante’ Morton and
Deonna Walton recorded double-doubles for the Millsaps women’s basketball team but were unable to propel the Majors to their first win of the season as hot-shooting Oglethorpe University got the win Sunday afternoon, 70-64.
The Majors (0-20 overall, 0-11 SCAC) held a four-point lead early in the second half only to see the Stormy Petrels strike back and come away with the SCAC victory.
Oglethorpe, now 9-11 overall and 4-7 in the conference, raced out a 6-0 lead to start the game with inside baskets from Sarah Giles and Mareva Bone.
Millsaps responded with five straight points to cut the deficit to 6-5 behind free throws from
Sarah Spann and Morton and a layup by Walton.
Four minutes later, Walton gave the Majors their first lead of the game with a free throw, 15-14.
The Petrels answered with five consecutive points, capped by a 3-point play from Kristin Zipkin, to regain the lead midway through the opening half.
With less than two minutes to play, Oglethorpe built a 36-28 advantage with baskets on three consecutive possessions.
The Majors countered by scoring the final six points of the half to cut the margin to two at halftime, 36-34.
A 3-pointer from
Kristin Salmon and a jumper by Spann to open the second half gave Millsaps a 39-36 lead.
Millsaps went on to build its largest lead of the game, 46-42 with less than 15 minutes to play when
Elizabeth Sigafoose converted from the charity stripe.
Oglethorpe quickly tied the score at 46-46 and continued to surge ahead behind a 13-2 scoring run to take a 55-48 lead.
Millsaps' deficit grew to 14 points, 67-53, with four minutes remaining but the Majors would not give up the fight, scoring nine straight to close the gap to 67-62 with 1:21 remaining.
That was all the closer the Majors would get as the Petrels sealed the road win with free throws down the stretch.
Oglethorpe finished shooting 52 percent from the floor while limiting Millsaps to just 29 percent shooting.
The Majors forced a season-high 30 turnovers while committing 25 of their own.
Morton finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season while Walton recorded a career-high 19 points to go with 12 rebounds for her second double-double.
Morton and Salmon chipped in career-highs in steals with five apiece and Salmon also reached double figures with 10 points.
The Petrels’ Katie Weeks finished with a game-high 25 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor.
Giles and Zipkin recorded their own double-doubles for Oglethorpe combining for 25 points and 21 rebounds.
The Majors will look for their first win of the season on the road this weekend when they visit Southwestern University and Trinity University Feb. 5 and 7.