Box Score The No. 13 Maryville College Scots advance to the USA South Conference Tournament championship game on Saturday afternoon, after downing the Panthers of LaGrange, 61-37, on Friday night.
Maryville used a stellar performance defensively in the first half, holding the Panthers to only 17 points.
The Scots took a 28-17 lead to the locker room, as Jordan Ballard tallied six steals. The senior guard took five charges in the first half, setting the tone for Maryville defensively.
The Scots added 15 steals in the first half, while handing LaGrange 18 turnovers.
"I was really proud of the way our kids defended," Head Coach Darrin Travillian said. "When you hold a team to 37 points, that's a pretty good day on the defensive end. I thought our kids showed a lot of toughness on the boards. There were some moments there when they would make a little run, and we answered back…Jordan Ballard, that kid is unbelievable. She just wants to win, and she puts her body on the line. It was a great performance by us defensively."
Maryville (23-3) will carry that defensive threat and an eight-game winning streak into the championship game, as they face off with the Lady Lions of Piedmont College (20-7) in a 2-seed vs. 1-seed match-up.
The chase for the crown will tipoff inside Maryville's Boydson Baird Gymnasium at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
"They're going to rip and run, and do what they do," Travillian said of the match-up with Piedmont. "They take a lot of shots, and they attack the basket well. They are a very good offensive team, and they're aggressive defensively. They like to use a couple different kinds of presses to turn you a little bit. It's clearly somebody that we're very familiar with, and they're familiar with us, as well. I think it will be a good game. It's exciting to see No. 1 and No. 2 play. We'll give it a run here in the rubber match."
For the game on Friday night, Maryville forced 30 Panthers turnovers. The Scots took advantage of those, creating 23 points off those miscues.
Maryville had 19 steals on the night, led by Ballard's eight-steal performance. The senior guard also had seven assists, while scoring four points.
Mackenzie Puckett led the Scots offensively with a 13-point, seven-rebound effort, while Madison Maples had 10 points. Maples shot 3-of-6 from the floor, while connecting on 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Haley Talbott had nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from long range, while Lauren Biliter scored eight points to go with six boards, four steals, two assists and a block. Allyson Freiermuth had six points, while matching Puckett's team-high seven boards. Joanna Young had five points and four steals, while Rachel Hawn had four points. Linley Dunn added two free throws to round out the scoring for the Scots.
Maryville shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) from the floor, while knocking down 7-of-19 from behind the 3-point line.
LaGrange College (18-9) finished the night without a single player in double figures. Kymberli Payno had nine points to go with four steals, three rebounds and three blocks, while Marilauren Farr had eight points and six rebounds for the Panthers.
LaGrange shot 12-of-42 (28.6 percent) from the floor, while bucketing only four treys on a 30.8 percent shooting effort.
Maryville and Piedmont will face off tomorrow, as both teams hope to receive the automatic bid from the USA South Athletic Conference to the NCAA Tournament.
