Maryville – A 30-point fourth quarter from Maryville (10-9, 8-3 CCS) propelled the Scots past LaGrange (14-5, 8-2 CCS) 78-69 here in the Cooper Athletic Center Friday night.
 
Maryville is 9-4 since Dec. 1 and has now won six games in a row for the first time since the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, where they won 10 straight to kick off the year.
 
Maryville shot 70 percent (7-of-10) over the final ten minutes, going 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and hitting 14-of-20 free throws. MC outscored the Panthers 30-15 in the fourth quarter, winning the game by nine points after entering the quarter down six.


 
Scots leading scorer Courtney Carruthers scored 11 of her team-high 22 points in the quarter, shooting 2-of-4 from the field while hitting a three-pointer and going a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
 
"That's what you expect from your senior, from a leader, and from an all-conference player," Maryville head coach Darrin Travillian said. "She made a good adjustment. She didn't settle for jumpers when she could get in their teeth and get to the backboard."
 
After an 18-8 run over the first eight minutes of the quarter to tie the game at 66, Emily Allen hit a clutch three-pointer to put the Scots ahead 69-66. LaGrange hit a free throw to cut MC's lead to just two but Carruthers retaliated with another three to put Maryville ahead 72-67.


 
While Maryville was able to complete the epic fourth-quarter comeback, a disastrous third quarter, that was nearly exactly the opposite of the fourth, almost spelled doom for the Scots.
 
MC came out of the gates strong, winning the first half 35-26 and holding a nine-point lead heading into the half. But the Scots were outscored by the Panthers 28-13 in the third which forced Maryville to complete its comeback and steal the win in the fourth.
 
"We stopped rebounding and we stopped valuing the basketball in the third quarter," Travillian said. "Those are the two things, where if they're able to get their second and third chance opportunities, really fires up their offense."
 
"They made some adjustments in the third quarter, they moved the ball well, they made some big shots and made it so we had to counter."
 
Maryville shot 42 percent from the field (21-of-50), outshooting Lagrange by nearly 10 percent (32.8%, 21-of-64). The Scots had four players score in double figures. Led by Carruthers, Allen (16 points), Ella Haney (13 points), and Ella Tharpe (11 points) were the leading scorers for Maryville.


 
Emma Huskey pulled down a team-high seven rebounds while recording a steal and a block on the defensive end of the court. Kadence Stoner led MC with two blocks.
 
Maryville attempted a season-high 41 free-throw attempts, making 30 for a mark of 73.2 percent. The Scots lead the Collegiate Conference of the South with a 70.6 percent mark on the season. Carruthers sits atop the conference with 81 percent after going 11-of-12 Friday night.
 
MC has little time for rest after its win, returning to action Saturday afternoon for a CCS matchup against Huntingdon at the Cooper Athletic Center.
 
"I want the kids to enjoy this tonight because they earned it," Travillian said. "But the coach in me is going to enjoy it for about 20 more minutes before it's going to be 'now we've got to beat Huntingdon tomorrow and keep this thing rolling.'"
 
Tipoff for Saturday's contest is scheduled for 2 p.m.