The Oglethorpe women's basketball team was dealt their first loss of the season Sunday afternoon in Jackson, Mississippi, as they fell 66-57 to the homestanding Millsaps Majors in the Hangar Dome. The defeat dropped the Stormy Petrels to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in SAA play.
That came despite a milestone day for senior forward Lauren Ransom, who passed the 1,000-point mark for her career on a jumper with 34 seconds left in the contest. She finished the day with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, giving her 1,003 career points. She becomes the 10th player in program history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark and the first since Emily Buck in 2016. She also finished with 10 rebounds, giving her a double double on the day.
The Petrels led by as many as six points in the first quarter, as they began the game on an 8-2 run over the opening three minutes. They maintained their advantage throughout the period and led 13-10 after the opening 10 minutes. However, Millsaps was in the midst of a 10-2 run and vaulted ahead 15-13 with 8:45 left in the second quarter. Oglethorpe moved back ahead 20-17 with 7:20 left until halftime, but the home side took the lead for good with 5:12 remaining in the quarter while going on another 10-2 run. They led 27-22 at the 3:15 mark and maintained a five-point edge into the break.
Oglethorpe cut that to a couple points early in the third quarter, but Millsaps slowly pushed their advantage out over the latter half of the period. They went on a 13-3 run over the final five minutes of the quarter and took a 50-37 edge into the fourth. The visitors got off to a good start in the fourth, slicing the deficit down to six with seven straight points over the first two minutes and making it 50-44. It was as close as they would get, though. The Majors responded with five straight of their own and kept Oglethorpe at arm's length for the remainder of the contest.
The Petrels struggled on the offensive end of the court, shooting just 31.5 percent from the field overall and 3-for-28 from beyond the arc. They also sank just 8 of 17 free throws. They did outrebound Millsaps 20-10 on the offensive glass, leading to a 16-11 advantage in second chance points. However, the Majors made 22 free throws to the Petrels' eight -- shooting 61.1 percent from the line -- and outscored the visitors 16-6 off the bench.
Sophomore center Savannah LeGate scored 16 points and recorded six blocks on the day while senior guard Bailey Charles threw in 11 points and three assists.
The Petrels will be back in action on Friday as they look to recover from their first SAA loss. They'll welcome Centre, who they're currently tied with at 2-1 in league play, to Dorough Field House Friday at 6 p.m.