JACKSON, Miss. - It may only have been the first official game of the 2026-27 season for The W women's basketball team, but if it was looking to make a statement: mission accomplished. The Owls (1-0) led for nearly 38 minutes of its match-up at Millsaps College (2-1), upsetting the Majors by a score of 74-67 at the Hangar Dome.
Why an "upset" you may ask? Well, the Millsaps team entered the season as the heavy favorite to win the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) championship, collecting seven-of-nine first-place votes. The Majors won SAA's tournament and qualified for the NCAA III championships last year.
Secondly, MUW had not topped the Majors since December 7, 2021. The Owls came into Saturday afternoon's non-league bout staring at a 7-game losing skein to the opponent they were about to face for the 10th time in program history (trailing the series 8-1).
At the 7:45 mark of the first quarter, the Owls set the tone and would take the lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the outing. A 15-4 run over the next three-and-one half minutes was started with a three-point bomb from
Cora Causey, igniting the blitz that saw the scoreboard flip from a 4-2 deficit, to an 11-point, 19-8, MUW advantage when the dust had settled.
The Majors did get to within a single basket, 36-34, with 2:12 left in the half, before the Owls pushed it out to a 43-36 cushion at the intermission. Both teams had a sluggish third period, as neither of MUW's scoring leaders (
Madison O'Dell and
Addison Howell) had a field goal, and the Owls entered the final period still up by six, 54-48.
But the pesky Majors showed why they are highly rated. At four different times in that fourth stanza, Millsaps got the score to within three points, only to be rebuffed each and every time by an answer from The W. The trio of Howell, Tiya Allen, and
Fantasia Wilson were responsible for all of MUW's 20 points in the last quarter, sealing the win.
O'Dell continued to shine for The W in the early going, booking a team-leading 23 points (20 of which came in the first half, alone). O'Dell hit 6-of-13 from the floor, including 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. She was 6-for-6 from the free throw stripe, to go along with her four rebounds, all off the defensive glass.
Howell registered her first double-double game as an Owl, finishing with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Howell's all-around value shone through, as she also tallied four assists and two steals on her game ledger.
Allen was the Owls' third double-figure scorer with 10 points. Allen narrowly missed a double=double of her own, pulling down nine rebounds and making a block, as well.
The W's spunky sophomore guard
Jakayla Smith - a Columbus, Mississippi, native and alumnae of New Hope High School – finished in double-figure rebounds. The diminutive Smith - she's listed at 5-foot-2 inches - contributed big by corralling 10 caroms among the bigger inside players.
Wilson, another of Vaughn's Swiss Army Knife-type players, gave her team a little of everything: 8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.
Destiney Trice finished with seven points, while five points each from Smith and Causey, rounded out MUW's scorers.
Both clubs shot similarly from the field, in the mid-30s, but the difference proved to be from long distance. The Owls dialed up nine three-pointers, while the Majors managed just three from beyond the arc.
MUW also out-rebounded Millsaps by a 53-43 margin.
The W will next play its home opener on Tuesday (November 14/5:30 p.m.) versus Southeastern Baptist College. The Owls are 0-2 in their previous meetings versus the Chargers.
