Box Score Maryville College Women's Basketball used a huge first half, as the Scots followed five double-digit scorers to a USA South West Division Tournament Championship over Piedmont College, 68-62.
The Scots outscored the Lions 47-25 in the first half, as MC held off a late rally to cut down the nets in Demorest, Ga.
"I was really, really happy for them," Head Coach Darrin Travillian said. "After the last couple weeks where we lost to Piedmont twice at home, including Senior Day, and the fact that we were having to play shorthanded, it was just really special to see them find a way to get it done. We had great contributions. This week, in the tournament in general, we had so many contributions from so many different people that it made a great tournament run for the entire team."
Maryville came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, as the Scots shot 64.3 percent (9-of-14) in the first 10 minutes. The Scots bucketed four 3-pointers, adding six assists on nine made baskets for a 25-12 lead early.
Senior Elsa Eckenrod had 10 first-quarter points to lead MC, as she went 3-for-3 from the floor. Fellow senior Holland Jerrolds posted a trio of first-quarter assist for the Scots.
For the first half, Maryville boasted a 53.1-percent effort, tallying seven treys. MC shot 17-of-32 in the opening half, adding a dozen assists to their credit. Over that span, the Scots forced 11 Lion turnovers to take a 47-25 lead to the locker room.
"It was incredible," Travillian said. "I thought that the first half was probably the best half of basketball that we've played all year. We were sharing the ball and making shots. I thought we did a really good job of executing. Any kind of little changes or anything that Piedmont threw at us, I felt like we did a pretty good job of handling that in the first half. We did it on both ends of the floor. That first half was an amazing display today."
Piedmont found it's footing in the second half, marching on a rally. The Lions outscored the Scots, 13-7, in the third quarter, before Piedmont closed the gap in the fourth.
The Lions outscored MC, 24-14, in the fourth, cutting the score to 63-59 with 42 second remaining on a Livia Skinner 3-pointer. Kelley Wandell made back-to-back charity tosses with 23 second left.
Eckenrod and Shelby Hix aided the Scots in going 5-of-6 at the free-throw line down the stretch for the 68-62 victory.
Four of MC's seniors posted double-figures in Sunday's championship win.
"That's awesome," Travillian said. "They've been such great leaders for our program. We've built this team around them, so it's really nice for them to contribute that way. It was good, especially there late, where we had a bunch of seniors on the floor. They were able to put it away there at the end, and being able to count off those last 10 seconds was fun."
Eckenrod led the way with 15 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists, while sophomore Courtney Carruthers added 13 points, three steals, two assists and a rebound off the bench.
Wandell had 10 points, six rebounds, four blocks and a steal, while Klaire Varney added 10 points, seven boards, four assists and two steals.
Hix also had 10 points with four rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist, while Meredith Ward added four points. Jerrolds led the Scots with five assists on the day, as she added three points and two rebounds, and Hannah Seals had three points and a pair of assists on a 1-for-1 shooting effort.
MC (12-2) shot 39.7 percent (23-of-58) from the field, while connecting on eight treys at a 40-percent clip. The Scots had six blocks on the afternoon, as they turned 17 Lion turnovers into 18 points.
Piedmont (15-4) shot 21-of-59 (35.6 percent), while adding eight 3-pointers at a 42.1-percent mark. The Lions outrebounded the Scots, 40-34.
Hope Franklin led the way for Piedmont with a double-double of 23 points and 18 rebounds. Skinner added 16 points and nine assists on the day.
