Box Score Maryville College's Darrin Travillian became the program's winningest head women's basketball coach on Friday night, with a 63-46 win over USA South foe Ferrum College.
Travillian tied Wes Moore's 129-win total on Jan. 30, before the sixth-year head coach picked up his 130th career victory on Friday night.
"It's a relief, first and foremost, because it's been coming, and we've been talking about it," Travillian said. "To finally be able to get it done, it's a relief for me, and obviously, it's a relief for the girls. It's also humbling. To have so many great players that have come here to play so well and at such a high level – to perform the way they have performed – that's really what this has been about. It's all those players that have come here and played so well over the years."
Travillian accomplished the feat faster than Moore – now the head coach at N.C. State University – winning his 129th victory in only 159 games. Moore found his 129th victory in 163 career games.
Travillian said what Moore has accomplished at the Division II and Division I levels have been both impressive and dominant – especially his time spent at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and N.C. State University.
Now in his 27th year of coaching, Moore has compiled a 615-198 overall record.
"When you come to Maryville, that's the name that you hear when it comes women's basketball," he said. "Just to be in that dialogue where you're talking about a coach of that stature is pretty amazing and humbling. I ran into him at the William Peace game, and he talked about some of the happiest days of his career were spent here at Maryville. I can see why that's true. You have great kids, and you're in a great community. It's a great place to coach."
Currently in his sixth season, Travillian has led the Scots to the NCAA Tournament in each of the previous four seasons, including accomplishing the squad's #RunFor21 last season. The year also came with career marks that included the winningest season in the program's history, a record 17-1 start to the season and the program's second-longest win streak at 16 games.
In each of his previous five seasons, this Chicago native has tallied 20-plus win seasons in each of those years. That tally also ties Moore for the most 20-win campaigns in MC history, as Travillian is only four wins away from breaking that mark by the end of the 2015-16 season. It will also tie the mark for the most consecutive 20-win seasons in MC's women's basketball history.
For his players, the experience of being on Travillian's team isn't all about wins and losses, though.
"It's an incredible experience," Maryville College All-American Mackenzie Puckett said. "He knows how to win, and he knows how to build players. If you look at me coming in freshman year and me now, the improvements that I've made, it's because of him. He knows how to build relationships, build players and win, obviously. He knows how to do it, and he does it the right way. That's what I think is really awesome about it. I've been pushed, and I've been challenged, but it's all for the good of the team."
Travillian currently sits atop the winningest coaches in MC history by percentage, also. His 130-31 record leaves him with a .807 winning percentage. Dean Walsh (1998-2001) ranks second, posting a .789 percentage mark. At the beginning of the 2015-16 season, Travillian ranked tied for seventh in the NCAA Division III for winningest active coaches by percentage.
This two-time Great South Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and the 2014-15 USA South Coach of the Year has developed 16 all-conference performers, while directing numerous Academic All-Conference honorees. In his first five seasons, Travillian's squads have claimed five regular season conference titles, claimed the 2011-12 GSAC Conference Tournament title and has been ranked as high as third by the NCAA in the South Region and No. 11 nationally.
Following the 2013-14 campaign, Travillian was named a 2014 Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year finalist and the South Region Coach of the Year. He was once again honored in 2015 as a United States Marine Corps/WBCA National finalist and tabbed South Region Coach of the Year by the WBCA. Puckett became his first two-time WBCA All-American following the 2013-14 and 2014-15 campaigns.
On Jan. 16, 2015, Travillian became the fastest head coach to 100 career victories in women's basketball at Maryville, accomplishing the feat in only 125 total games. Travillian passed Moore, who accomplished the 100-win plateau in 130 games and Dee Bell who accomplished it in 135 career games.
However, of all those numbers, the sixth-year head coach said he's most proud of his team's integrity.
"I think I'm most proud of the fact that the entire time that I've been here, I've not had a single kid written up for any kind of violation on this campus," Travillian said. "They've behaved with integrity, and they have behaved in a class way anywhere we've been. Anybody that we compete against will tell you that our kids compete hard, and they play the game the right way. I think that, because you hope your teams are a reflection of what you try to teach. If you do those things, I think the wins will be a byproduct of that."
Maryville jumped to a big lead early in the game, riding a 25-4 run over 9:53 of the first and second quarters behind a stout Scots' defense. MC held a 35-11 lead early, before taking a 35-13 lead to the locker room at the half.
Maryville found 29 points off 24 Ferrum College turnovers to cruise to the 63-46 win after extending their lead to as many as 26 during the third quarter.
The Scots (15-3, 9-1 USA South) were led by Puckett's 17-point effort that went with five steals. Madison Maples added 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, while Haley Talbott had nine points.
Lauren Biliter had eight points and seven rebounds, while Allyson Freiermuth and Jordan Ballard had six points each. Rachel Hawn had two points and five boards for the Scots.
For Ferrum College (9-11, 7-4) it was Krista Cox with 13 points, while bucketing three of Ferrum's four treys. Kemani Crawford had 10 points and five rebounds, while Zarkia Mattox and Erin March led the Panthers with six rebounds each.
Maryville will look to host Averett University tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 6. The Scots will celebrate Play4Kay Day and Alumni Day at Saturday's contest, which is slated to tipoff at 3 p.m.
WINNEGEST COACHES AT MARYVILLE COLLEGE ALL-TIME
Darrin Travillian (6) 130-31 (.807)
Wes Moore (6) 129-35 (.787)
Dee Bell (5) 107-37 (.743)
Dean Walsh (3) 60-16 (.789)
Kelli Casteel Cook (5) 45-39 (.536)
Todd Wright (2) 41-15 (.732)
Jeff Pardue (2) 38-17 (.691)
Sharon Arrington (3) 9-59 (.132)
