Late Rally Falls Short in 70-61 Defeat to Centre

MARYVILLE – Three Maryville Scots scored in double figures here Monday, but it wasn't enough to prevent a 70-61 nonconference defeat to Centre at the Cooper Athletic Center.
 
Centre's Bailey Rucker scored a game-high 20 points, and the Colonels did most of their damage in Quarters 2 and 3. They tallied 20 and 21 points, respectively, in those two periods and outscored Maryville 41-29. Centre built its largest lead at 56-36 with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter before the Scots made a run.
 
Maryville started fast in the fourth and trimmed the Colonel lead to 65-59 on an Ella Haney hook shot with 1:29 remaining. But that's as close as the Scots could get.
 
There were five ties and four lead changes in the first quarter before Centre closed the session in front 16-15. The Colonels then used a 6-0 run to finish the second quarter and take a 36-29 lead into intermission.


 
In the third quarter, Centre used a 9-0 run midway through the period to boost its lead to 52-33. After a Cassidy Andry 3-pointer, Centre responded with four more points for its largest lead of the game at 56-36 with 3:11 to play. Maryville whittled the lead to 57-44 by the end of the quarter thanks to an 8-1 run that saw Sophie Tharpe and Emily Allen score four points apiece.
 
Maryville outscored Centre 17-13 in the fourth but never could quite close the gap.
 
Haney and Emma Huskey led the Scots in scoring with 12 points apiece. Huskey was also the team's top rebounder with nine. Sophie Tharpe had a team season-high six assists to go with five points and three steals. Allen sparkled off the bench and matched her season high with 11 points in 28 minutes. She added two assists and two steals. The Scots were playing without injured leading scorer Courtney Carruthers, who is averaging 11.0 points. 


 
Emma Rose Vincent scored 16 points and added 10 boards for the visitors, who improved to 9-1. Maryville's six losses this season are at the hands of teams owning a combined won-lost record of 42-14.
 
The Scots are back in action Jan. 2 for their CCS opener against Wesleyan. Tipoff is once again 5 p.m.