The Oglethorpe women's basketball team is headed to their third consecutive SAA championship game after the top-seeded Stormy Petrels bested the fourth-seeded Millsaps Majors 64-53 in Saturday's SAA Tournament semifinals at Dorough Field House. The win improved Oglethorpe to 26-1 and moved them to within a game of the single-season program record for wins in a season.

The game got started as a tight, defensive affair. Neither side shot well in the opening period, with Oglethorpe sinking just 29.4 percent of their shots and Millsaps converting at an 18.2 percent rate. The sides traded leads and finished the opening 10 minutes tied 11-11.

The Petrels pushed their advantage in the second quarter, though. They went on a 17-0 run over the opening 6:15 of the period to push out to a 28-11 lead at the 3:45 mark. The Majors quickly cut the Oglethorpe advantage to 12 with a fast 5 points, but the Petrels went on a 5-point run of their own to go back ahead 33-16. They led 33-20 at the break.

Oglethorpe extended their advantage to 15 points early in the third quarter, taking a 41-26 lead with 3:40 remaining. Millsaps came back with a 9-2 spurt to pull to within just 8 points, 43-35, at the 2:10 mark. They trailed 46-38 at the end of the quarter.

The Majors were able to drop it all the way to a 6-point game, 50-44, with just under 6 minutes remaining. They were still down by just 6 with 4:50 on the clock. However, the Petrels embarked on a 7-1 run to take a 59-47 lead with 2:40 left. The Petrels finished the Majors off at the free throw line from there.

Junior center Savannah LeGate led the way for the Petrels, scoring 24 points while grabbing 16 rebounds. Sophomore guard Nikki Reed added 20 points on 6-of-10 from the field and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. 

The Petrels finished 34.9 percent from the floor while holding Millsaps to 25 percent. The Majors shot 40.7 percent from 3-point range but were overwhelmed by the Petrels in the paint, getting outscored 32-4 in the category. Oglethorpe also forced 18 Millsaps turnovers.

No. 13 Oglethorpe now takes on second-seeded Rhodes at 2 p.m. Sunday in the SAA championship game at Dorough Field House. The Lynx defeated third-seeded Centre 81-76 in overtime in Saturday's second semifinal. 

The Petrels bested Rhodes 80-70 at home on Jan. 5, then went to Memphis, Tennessee, on Feb. 2 and beat them 78-71.