Box Score Last-Second Trey Not Enough in 67-59 Loss
Photos by Abby Diggs
MARYVILLE – The scores are generally close, but Berea always seems to come out on top in this border-rivalry series.
Maryville played nemesis Berea into overtime Tuesday night before dropping a 67-59 overtime decision to the Mountaineers. It was Berea's eight consecutive win against the Scots since the Mountaineers joined USA South to start the 2017-18 season.
Jordan Heifner's 3-pointer from approximately 25 feet at the end of regulation tied it 56-56 and seemingly flipped all the momentum to the Scots. But credit Berea because the visitors scored the first eight points of the extra session and held Maryville without a point for 4:18 to win going away.
"We got a great look from a really good shooter, and she knocked it down," Scots head coach Darrin Travillian said. "That's about as good as it gets.
"What disappoints me is we should then be coming out of the huddle with great energy and momentum, but the first two minutes of overtime we did not have that. They sort of forced their will on us and from there we were playing catch-up."
Not surprisingly in an overtime game, all four quarters were closely contested. Berea won the first by two points and the second by one to lead 29-26 at intermission. Maryville took the third by a point and then won the fourth by two to force the OT. Berea finally pulled clear with an 11-3 overtime advantage.
"The four quarters were basically the same margin each time," Travillian said. "But they really gave it to us in overtime.
"Part of overtime is you have to be able to dig down and get a stop. We consistently forced a miss in overtime but couldn't pull down that big board in traffic. You've got to have that dog mentality."
Rebounds Were Key
Berea outrebounded Maryville 8-6 in the overtime and 55-45 for the game. The Mountaineers were led by Destiny Combs with 16 points and 21 rebounds. Aaliyah Hampton tallied 20 points to lead all scorers, and Bailee Vanover added 13.
Heifner and Elsa Eckenrod were the Maryville scoring leaders with 13 apiece. Eckenrod was in foul trouble all night and finally picked up her fifth with 29.3 seconds left in regulation. The senior played just 21 minutes and was sorely missed in the OT.
Shelby Hix pulled down 10 rebounds, including nine after intermission. It was her third career double-digit rebounding game and her first since her junior year of 2019-20. Hix also led the Scots with four assists against just two turnovers.
Maryville dropped to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the USA South. Berea improved to 6-2 and 3-0.
The Scots are back in action Saturday at 2 p.m. against Covenant, which enters at 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the USA South. The last Covenant action was Nov. 23 in an 82-35 home win against Agnes Scott.
"The great thing about basketball is within a couple of days you get to do it again," Travillian said. "You have to have a short memory. We get to play at home in a big-time conference game against Covenant, which is playing really well.
"You've got to bring the energy, the toughness and the execution to win these types of games. Every game this year has been like tonight where it's a couple of possessions late. We've come out on top twice and come up short the other times. Most of our games are going to be like this, and we've got to win those last four minutes."
