Box Score The Maryville College Scots tied the MC school record for wins in a season, while earning a spot in the USA South Athletic Conference Championship game with a 54-41 win over rival Ferrum College.
The Scots tie a 25-year mark at the college, currently holding a 25-2 record. In 1989-90, Maryville finished the season at 25-3. To tie it, MC Head Coach Darrin Travillian said, is impressive.
"It's been unbelievably impressive," Travillian said. "These kids, they've bought in, and they've worked so hard. It's definitely something that you think about. As you get closer to it, you think, well maybe we'll chase it and see what we can do. To be right there, it's pretty awesome. Obviously, the challenge tomorrow with Greensboro is pretty great, but that's why you come to play this game."
The Scots had their hands full on the night with the USA South North Division No. 2 seed Panthers. Maryville fell behind early, as Ferrum jumped to a 6-0 lead, before a Mackenzie Puckett jumper and a Lauren Trent 3-pointer made the score 6-5 at the 15:02 mark.
The Scots would go cold, however, making just 8.7 percent (2-of-23) through the first 15:13 of the game to trail 14-5. Jordan Ballard broke the silence with 4:47 on the clock, as Maryville would finish the half shooting 8-of-8 from the floor to take a 25-20 lead to the locker room.
The Scots forced five turnovers, while converting six assists in the 20-6 run to end the half. Travillian said it was MC's defense that kept them alive.
"If you're going to win this time of year, you're going to have to win close games and win games when it looks like you shouldn't," he said. "Yesterday, [against Averett], a lot of the chips were down, but we made winning plays. Both days now, we've defended. If you can defend this time of year, you can find ways to score, hopefully, enough. Yesterday, it was barely enough. Today, after the drought that went on almost the entire first half, we finally took the lid off that thing and started putting that thing in the hoop. The defensive end, though, is exactly why we're 25-2."
The Scots crashed the offensive boards in the second half pulling down 22 offensive rebounds, which the Scots turned into 12 points in the 54-41 victory.
Travillian said his squad sets a goal of 15 offensive boards a game, often finishing with around 12.
"To get that many tonight, it felt like we needed every one," he said. "There were some possessions late in the game where we took the first shot, got the rebound, and we could run another 30 seconds. We shot it, got the rebound and run another 30. We stretched out about two minutes by just offensive rebounding."
Maryville was led by Puckett's 23 points and seven rebounds, as the First Team All-Conference player posted 8-of-9 free throws in the game. She also pulled down seven boards.
Trent posted nine points for the Scots, while Ballard added eight points, seven steals, five assists and four rebounds. Mindy Brackins also had eight points, while Alex Bond tallied four points, seven assists and five rebounds. Joanna Young posted two points, as she and Rachel Hawn had a game-leading nine rebounds.
The Scots shot 18-of-62 on the night for a 29 percent outing, while posting 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from beyond the arc. MC was 10-of-11 from the charity stripe for a 90.9 percent afternoon.
Ferrum shot 45.9 percent from the floor, posting 3-of-9 shooting from the 3-point line.
The Panthers were led by USA South Player of the Year Jacole Hairston who scored 12 points, while Brooke Lewis added eight.
Maryville will now vie for a USA South Tournament Championship and a Maryville College record on Saturday, as they face off with North Division No. 1 Greensboro College and Tiffani Stephens. The 6-foot-4 center posted a triple-double against LaGrange College in game one of the semifinals with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks to go with 70 percent shooting from the floor.
"That's going to be tough," Travillian said. "She was a Division I player. That comes with the skill set and size that she possesses. It's a huge challenge – figuratively and literally – so, we'll see where we are with her."
Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m.
