Fourth-Quarter Struggles Spell Defeat for Maryville
MARYVILLE – Maryville suffered a tough loss to Piedmont 64-59 Saturday in Boydson H. Baird Gymnasium. The Scots held a five-point lead going into the fourth quarter but were unable to hold on after an 18-8 skid in the final 10:00 of play.
MC came out strong in the first quarter, scoring 14 points while holding Piedmont to just nine. Emma Huskey kicked off the scoring for Maryville, scoring the first four points of the contest. Madison Williams capped off the strong first with a contested jumper following an assist from Courtney Carruthers.
The Scots' lead would stay the same through the next two quarters as Maryville and Piedmont each scored 17 and 20 points in the second and third quarters, respectively.
During those 20 minutes of play, neither team was able to gain the upper hand. Maryville's largest lead during this time was just eight points, and while Piedmont was able to momentarily take the lead in the third quarter on a three from Ashley Scott, MC carried that five-point lead into each of the second, third, and fourth quarters.
In the fourth quarter, it all came crashing down for the Scots. Piedmont scored the first 10 points of the quarter, going on a 12-1 run to start it off. The Lions held MC scoreless for the first 5:09 of the quarter. Maryville was 0-for-13 from the field in the final 10:00, including 0-for-5 from three. All eight of the Scots points came from the free-throw line.
Despite their fourth-quarter struggles, Maryville was 21-for-52 (40.4%) from the field. This is just the second game of the season that MC has Shot at least 40 percent (Last: 48.6%, 36-for-74 at Birmingham-Southern). Going into the fourth, the Scots were shooting 53.8 percent, which would have marked a season-high if they kept that pace.
Carruthers led the Maryville offense with 21 points and five assists. Huskey followed with 14 points and led MC with seven rebounds, while Williams picked up 10 points of her own.
The Scots are back in action on Sunday, facing off against Huntingdon at home. Tip-off for that matchup is at 2 p.m.