Box Score Maryville College women's basketball hosted #BlockOutCancer on Wednesday night, as the Scots defeated Covenant College, 98-54, inside Boydson Baird Gymnasium.
The #BlockOutCancer event is a USA South Athletic Conference campaign to support a member of the conference's basketball family. Greensboro College Head Coach Randy Tuggle was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and Maryville College, the USA South and its members put on the Pancreatic Cancer Awarness event in support of Coach Tuggle and his battle.
For more information and to support Coach Tuggle, visit here.
While honoring their conference colleague, the Scots used an explosive offensive attack to take control of the USA South game on Wednesday night.
MC's Courtney Carruthers exploded for 37 points on the night, while knocking down eight treys. The freshman shot 77 percent (14-of-18) from the floor, while Kelley Wandell and Elsa Eckenrod scored 16 points each.
In all, MC saw 11 Scots in the scoring column in the Battle of the Scots.
The first quarter didn't start the way Maryville had hoped, as the Georgian Scots opened on a 9-2 run in the first 2:30. Wandell had MC's first four points, while Eckenrod bucketed a trey from Abbi Joseph to propel the Orange and Garnet.
Maryville would go on an 18-0 run to take a 20-9 lead, as the Scots extended that to a 21-2 rally. Following the first quarter, MC led 25-13 and would never look back.
MC took a 44-25 lead to the locker room behind a consistent first half. Maryville shot 60 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, going 18-of-30. They went a combined 8-of-12 in the second quarter for a 66.7-percent effort, while knocking down seven 3-pointers.
MC's defense held Covenant to a 34.5-percent outing in the first half, as the Georgian Scots shot 10-of-29. Maryville would add 15 points off a dozen Covenant turnovers, while MC's bench outscored Covenant's, 21-0, in the first half.
Carruthers would take over the second half, bucketing 22 total points – just seven shy of Covenant's 29 second-half points. She shot 8-of-11 from the floor, while knocking down five of the seven treys. MC bolstered a 57.1-percent effort in the second half, as the Scots tallied nine 3-pointers in the second half.
MC's bench would go on to outscore Covenant's, 55-7, for the game.
Maryville (16-7, 9-5 USA South) was paced by Carruthers' 37, as she added three steals, three rebounds and a pair of assists. Wandell had 16 points, while going a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. The senior added seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks to her credit, while shooting 7-of-8 on the night.
Eckenrod had 16 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal, as Joseph posted nine points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Klaire Varney had five points, six rebounds, seven assists and a steal, while Shelby Hix added four points. Kaylee Collier had three points, while Holland Jerrolds, Libby Gardner, Hannah Jones and Karlee Bowling had two points each. Jerrolds had seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal, while Garnder added five assists.
In all, MC shot 38-of-65 (58.5 percent) from the floor, while bucketing 16 3-pointers at a 53.3-percent clip. The Scots went 6-of-10 at the charity stripe, as they outrebounded their Georgian counterparts, 43-36.
Covenant (9-15, 6-9) was held to a 26.2-percent effort (16-of-61), while tallying four treys. They went 18-of-30 at the free-throw line.
Hannah Monday had a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds, as she added four steals, two assists and a block. Margo Koby had 14 points, as Ruthie Moore added nine.
Maryville College will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 14. The Scots will host the #Ball4Britt night to aid the Brittany Johnson Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Tipoff against Wesleyan College (Ga.) is slated for 6:00 p.m.
