Box Score Maryville Opens USA South with Win
MARYVILLE – Jordan Heifner scored eight of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter to help Maryville rally past Huntingdon 63-55 in its USA South opener.
The Scots trailed for more than 31 of the game's 40 minutes. They didn't take their first lead until Meredith Ward knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers around the 3½-minute mark of the third quarter.
Huntingdon answered with a late 3-pointer from Brooklyn Oden and regained a 49-47 advantage heading to the fourth.
But that's when Maryville turned up the defense, limiting the Hawks to just one made field goal in 14 attempts and six points over the final 10 minutes. And it was mostly one-and-done for the visitors as Maryville cleaned the glass by a 17-7 margin in that closing quarter.
Heifner made both of her field goal attempts, including a 3-ball, and added three free throws to finish with 18 points. She leads the Scots at 16.4 for the season. The sophomore guard also added a career-high seven assists.
"They dropped 24 points on us in the first quarter," Maryville head coach Darrin Travillian said. "But we finally got to a place where we got some stops. We had two quarters tonight where we held them to single-digits, and that should be good enough for a winner."
Huntingdon led 24-17 after one quarter thanks to a blistering 10-of-17 start from the floor, including three made 3-pointers. Maryville limited the Hawks to nine points in the second and trailed 33-30 at intermission.
"The big thing for me was the backboard," Travillian said. "We were getting beat by nine or 10 at the half (22-13), we had one offensive rebound when we came into the locker room. That's where they were destroying us.
"We finally rebounded better and then we added defensive stops. That changed the game for us."
Big Play from the Bench
Travillian also credited reserves Ward, Emma Huskey and Audrey Sanders for their roles during the third-quarter comeback from 41-32 down at the 6-minute mark of the third quarter. Maryville's bench for the game outscored Huntingdon's bench 18-15.
"That group changed all the momentum in the game," he said. "It was outstanding and that's what we need to be successful."
Courtney Carruthers scored eight of her 14 points in the second half, while Elsa Eckenrod added eight points and eight rebounds and Sanders scored seven. Ward contributed six points on her pair of treys.
Huntingdon got 14 points from A.B. Davis and 13 from Ry Whetstone.
"One thing I've liked thus far is at the 4-minute mark, we've been in these one-possession and two-possession games," Travillian said. "Those early tough games the last two weeks really prepared us to have to win the way we did tonight.
"We just didn't make our free throws like we should. We kept going 1-of-2. If we make a few more of those, and we will, you're talking about an 11-, 12- or 13-point lead, which makes for a very different final minute. But we executed, ran clock, got a few stops and did enough."
Maryville is off until a week from Tuesday when the Scots host Berea. The Mountaineers already are 4-0 on the young season, including 2-0 in the USA South. They host Sewanee and then play Saturday and Sunday in the Transylvania tournament against host Transy and Alma.
