Box Score For the first time in 25 years, the No. 12 Maryville College Scots will see the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
Maryville stands as one of only 16 teams left in the national tournament after defeating Birmingham-Southern College, 63-56, in the NCAA second round on Saturday night.
Again – much like their first round matchup – it took the Scots to have a thrilling come-from-behind fourth quarter, to push MC to the next round of 'The Dance.'
For Maryville College Head Coach Darrin Travillian, what his squad has been able to accomplish inside Boydson Baird Gymnasium has been astounding this season.
"This class is going to leave here as the winningest senior class in Maryville women's basketball history, and most of those wins were here down the stretch on this court," he said, listing the conference championship, a thrilling senior night and the NCAA Tournament. "So much of what we've done has happened right here on this court, and then to be able to have that one more notch to say, 'Oh, yeah. We're going to a Sweet Sixteen with this bunch,' is pretty astounding."
Maryville finishes their season on Randy Lambert Court with an unblemished 16-0 record at home.
For the players, however, breaking that 25-year drought is something very special.
"It's the best feeling in the world," senior guard Jordan Ballard said. "It's probably a better feeling that winning the conference championship here, honestly, just because it hasn't been done in so long. All four years, we've never gotten past the second round. It's just and unbelievable feeling."
Maryville will face off with the No. 1 team in the country – Thomas More College.
The Scots will travel to Crestview Hills, Ky. to challenge the Saints who defeated Guilford College, 92-40, to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Thomas More is the defending National Champion, riding a 62-game winning streak into the matchup.
Maryville hopes the momentum they found in the final moments of Saturday's game will carry over to that game.
With 5:26 left in the third quarter, the Scots were facing a 10-point deficit. Sophomore Madison Maples knotched a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 39-32, before Maryville put together a 10-4 run to end the half – eight of those points coming from Maples.
The Scots trailed 43-39 going to the final stanza – much like Maryville's first-round matchup with the University of Mary Washington.
"Some way similar, but what was different was that yesterday, we had tremendous energy from the opening tip," Travillian said. "We just had some other issues to work through. Tonight, it just took a while to kind of get us ignited in terms of energy, everybody being locked in and doing the things that we do. We kept waiting for that to happen, and when it did, you saw a totally different performance."
Maryville cut the lead to two, 43-41, before Yorisha Bryant added the old-fashioned 3-point play and Laura Van Peursem tallied a free throw to push the Panthers back to a 47-41 advantage.
Ballard knocked down a jumper, before Maples tallied her third 3-point basket of the run to move Maryville to a 47-46 score, trailing only by one.
The sophomore was 1-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first half, before bucketing 3-of-4 over the final two periods to lead the Scots for the win.
"Honestly, I think it was just my teammates having confidence in me," she said of the second-half spark. "They said, 'Knock it down.' I remember [Joanna Young] when we came back out after halftime, she said, 'We need you. We need you to knock down some shots.' I feel like that really gave me the confidence that I needed."
With 6:05 left on the clock, Young did her part, as she tied the ball game, 47-all, with a charity toss.
"As soon as we tied it, I thought, 'We're winning it,'" Ballard said. "That's what went through my mind. When we went up one point, I had so much confidence in us."
Allyson Freiermuth followed suit at the 5:17 mark to give the Scots their first lead since 7:43 mark of the second quarter.
Maryville wouldn't relinquish that lead, as Mackenzie Puckett – who had been benched much of the second half for foul trouble – tossed in 10 of the Scots' final 15 points, including a 6-for-6 effort from the free-throw line.
"You don't go to a gunfight and leave the bullets at home," Travillian said of Puckett playing with four fouls. "We're not going to lose that game and sit back and say, 'Well, what if?' I'd rather go out there and see what we can do with all of our pieces on the court and take our chance."
Puckett finished the night 12-of-12 from the free-throw line, while puts her at a perfect 25-of-25 for the NCAA Tournament.
"There were some things we were running when we were trying to get her the ball, and then there were some moments when things would break down, and she would make a big play and a big shot…," Travillian said. "There are a multitude of ways to score, and I think you saw over these past two days that she did more of her damage from the free-throw line."
Maples led the Scots with 19 points on the night, while Puckett added 18 points. The senior forward also tallied five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in only 18 minutes of action.
Ballard had a complete stat line, adding nine points, six assists, five rebounds, five steals and three blocks.
Young, Freiermuth and Lauren Biliter each added five points, while Biliter led the Scots with eight boards and three blocks. Rachel Hawn had two points for Maryville.
Maryville (26-3) shot 33.3 percent (16-of-48) from the floor, while adding five treys. The Scots shot 26-of-34 from the charity stripe, which was good enough for a 76.5 percent outing.
Birmingham-Southern (25-4) was led by Bryant's double-double effort of 26 points and 14 rebounds. She was the only player to surpass double figures, as Halle Knowles and Jameice Holmes each added nine points.
"I thought they did a good job defensively," BSC head coach Mike Ricks said. "They really ramped up the pressure, and we had a couple that rimmed out that could have kept us going. That makes it tough, especially when you're playing on the road in such a big game. I thought we battled our way until the last second. That's what we've tried to build our program on. We left everything out on the court, and I'm proud of them."
