The Southern Athletic Association announced its postseason awards for women’s basketball on Thursday with Millsaps taking home two of the four major honors.
Head coach Justin LeBlanc was voted SAA Coach of the Year coming off the Lady Majors’ first regular-season conference title since 2020-21. It’s the third time LeBlanc has won the award (2018-19, 2020-21, and 2023-24) since taking over the program eight years ago.
Millsaps (22-4, 13-2 SAA) has been led by junior guard Haley Franklin, who was selected as the SAA Women’s Basketball Player of the Year. Franklin leads the conference in scoring with 18.7 points per game and is second in field goal percentage with a 48.2 percent shooting clip.
The Baton Rouge, La., native also leads the team in minutes and made free throws. She is second in rebounding, assists, and blocks. Franklin becomes the first Lady Major to win the award since Velvet Johnson in 2014-15.
Joining Franklin in the postseason honors was Elyse Warren and Garin Freeman. Warren was named to the All-SAA second team after averaging a double-double of 11.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game during the regular season. Freeman, an All-SAA honorable mention, is third in the conference with 3.8 assists per game.
Millsaps will be back in action on Saturday as the team faces Rhodes in the second round of the SAA Tournament in Jackson. Tipoff at the Hangar Dome is set for 3 p.m. The winner will face either Berry or Centre in the championship game on Sunday with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament on the line.
The full SAA women’s basketball awards can be found here.
