LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Facing a nationally-ranked opponent, the Covenant women's basketball team struggled to make shots as they fell 57-39 to No. 19 Maryville on Wednesday night.
The Scots (2-19, 2-11 USA South) played good defense, holding 19th-ranked Maryville (18-2, 10-1 USA South) to 35.8 percent from the floor and 5-of-24 from the 3-point line, but shot only 20.8 percent from the floor in the loss.
Covenant took a 4-2 lead less than three minutes into the game on a pair of free throws by Morgan Woodward, only to see Maryville go on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to establish a lead that they would never relinquish.
Even still, Covenant hung around and was trailing by only six at 21-15 after Aleigha Williams buried her second 3-pointer in as many possessions with 8:07 left in the first half. Covenant then had numerous chances to get closer, as Maryville went almost five minutes without a point. They weren't able to capitalize, however, and Maryville was able to pull away to lead 28-18 at halftime, despite shooting just 28.9 percent from the floor.
In the second half, Maryville began to see its shots fall as they surged out to a 53-25 lead with 7:17 to play in the game, allowing them to put the game on cruise control the rest of the way.
For Covenant, they were led by the 11 points of Williams, who had three 3-pointers on five attempts. Jessica Bell nearly made it to double-figures with nine points and Abbey Bailey led the team with eight rebounds. Morgan Woodward tallied six points and seven rebounds. Facing full court pressure for the majority of the night, the Scots turned the ball over just 12 times.
Defensively, Covenant held reigning USA South Player of the Year Mackenzie Puckett to six points on 3-of-13 shooting.
Maryville was led by Mindy Brackins, who had nine points, and Rachel Hawn, who had eight points and eight rebounds. They outrebounded Covenant 51-38 and blocked 10 shots.
Covenant will host Agnes Scott on Saturday at 2 p.m. Senior Day activities will take place before the game as Morgan Woodward and Kiersten Nielsen will be honored.
Be sure to follow the Scots all season long on athletics.covenant.edu and on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news and other information.
