Box Score Scots Win 67-35 in 2021 Home Finale
Photos by Abby Diggs
MARYVILLE – The Scots tied their 2021 high in assists with 14 and set a new season-high steals mark of 13 in a 67-35 win over the visiting Colonels of Centre College.
Maryville took care of the ball in the contest and only turned it over 14 times, a new season-low, while forcing 23 Colonel turnovers.
"Our theme tonight was be better," said Scots head coach Darrin Travillian. "No matter the outcome we wanted to be our best. I thought we met that goal and were a lot better."
After battling back and forth in the first quarter, the Scots used 3-pointers from Hailey Cronk and Jordan Heifner as well as free throws from Anna Kate Bechman and Elsa Eckenrod to take a 16-11 lead after the end of the opening quarter.
The Scots sunk 40 percent of their shots from deep in the first quarter and 50 percent in the second. It is something Travillian says was a point of emphasis in making the offense flow.
"We shot the ball better from three in the first half than the second half, but we got threes within the context of our offense in the second. Those are still good threes because the ball is moving and it can give us some better looks with our second and third options."
The teams went into the half with Maryville up 38-25 and it was the home team who pushed the pace early in the second half.
An 8-0 run for the Scots opened the third quarter and pushed the team to a 21 point advantage. Centre answered back with a 6-0 run of their own to battle their way back into it, but Maryville showed toughness and concluded the third on a 9-0 run.
In the end, a 32 point win came for the Scots with a final of 67-35.
"Our last three practices have been the hardest of the season so far," said Travillian. "We pushed them this week. I wanted to test our will and see who we wanted to be.
"Until everyone is invested in everyone else then we are not going to win. The team bought in and we saw the results tonight."
Impressive Debut
Sophomore transfer Madison Williams made her debut for the Scots tonight and made the most of the opportunity. The forward tallied a team-high seven rebounds and was second on the team in steals with four.
"In the first half we got into foul trouble and were down four starters at one point and Madison brought a boost," Travillian said. "She played hard and got boards despite not fully knowing our system yet with her being new.
"Our whole bench made us better tonight. Whether it was grabbing rebounds or loose balls they contributed. AK (Bechman) came in and grabbed a couple of boards and Emma (Huskey) came in and did good work for us in the post."
Heifner led the team in scoring with 19 points and also had a team-best six steals. Eckenrod and Carruthers joined her in double-figure scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Working Together
As a team, Maryville dominated in the paint by a margin of 32-18. The Scots also made the Colonels lose the ball 23 times and turned those miscues into 27 points.
The transition defense was strong for the home team as Maryville did not allow the visitors to score any fastbreak points.
The Scots move to 3-6 overall with a 1-3 USA South record. Centre falls to 3-4 and remains 1-0 in Southern Athletic Association action.
The Colonels were led by Piper Hensley who had nine points while Presley Chirico led the visitors in rebounding with six boards.
A trip north awaits Maryville for their next three contests. The Scots kick off the trip at Ferrum (4-6, 2-2 ODAC) on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Maryville then travels to Kentucky for the Transylvania Classic where they are slated to face Capital (2-7, 0-3 OAC) Monday at 5 p.m. and John Carroll (7-0, 3-0) Tuesday at 1 p.m.
"Ferrum is a tough trip for anyone," said Travillian. "Can we do this again on Friday and keep the momentum going into the Transy games? It is where we want to be and we can get there."
