By Joshua J. Darling, Sports Information Director
LAGRANGE, Ga. – A devastating 20-1 third quarter run and senior guard Gracie Brunel (Broxton, Ga.) lighting it up from beyond the arc fueled a rare 70-50 LaGrange (15-5, 9-2 CCS) blowout of Maryville (8-12, 5-6 CCS) in an NCAA Division III women's basketball game on Friday, February 3.
Brunel exploded for a game-high 20 points behind 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc and added three boards, three steals and three assists to lead the Panthers to their largest victory over the Scots. The 20-point victory is just their second by double-digits in a series dating to 1999-2000, easily topping the 71-59 decision in 2019.
She was joined by freshman forward Amanda McLendon (Orlando, Fla.) with nine points and five caroms and sophomore guard Zyhia Johnson (Homerville, Ga.) with 10 points, three rebounds and three steals. Freshman guard Laila Battle (Smyrna, Ga.) added eight points, four boards, two assists and a pair of steals and sophomore guard Ema Turner (Dalton, Ga.) dished out four assists off the bench. Senior guard Jada Brown (Macon, Ga.) rounded out the top performers with four points and three steals.
The clubs would battle through two ties and a lead change over the first 2:16 as LC took a narrow 9-6 lead. From there both clubs would hit a drought that would last the next 2:44 before a pair of Johnson jumpers extended to a 13-6 margin midway through the opening frame. That dry spell would continue for another minute for the Scots before they came to life and scored eight of the final 10 points to close the quarter down just 15-14.
It would be a far different 10 minutes after that, however, as LaGrange dominated the second period. Maryville kept it to within two, 18-16, over the first 1:39 only to see the Panthers explode for an 18-5 run that took that two-point margin and blew it open to a 36-24 lead at the half. That pivotal stretch would see four different scorers but none more potent than Brunel who nailed three triples on her way to 10 of her 13 first half points.
LC would continue that trend as they delivered an onslaught in the third that would put the game out of reach. Over the first 1:43 they would score 12 straight, half of those by Johnson, on their way to a massive 56-25 lead fueled by a crushing 20-1 run. The Scots would fight back to within 25 by the two minute mark but would find themselves trailing 60-34 heading to the fourth.
They would score the first nine points of that frame, clawing to within 60-45 with 4:53 to play. All hope of an epic comeback would then be extinguished as sophomore guard Britney Chavez (Birmingham, Ala.) drained a back breaking triple seconds later and the Panthers closed out the 70-50 victory just over four minutes later.
Emma Huskey just missed a double-double for Maryville, finishing with 11 points, nine caroms and three steals while Madison Williams notched seven points and nine boards while coming off the bench. Courtney Carruthers added 12 points as the only other player in double-figures and Chloe Roark hauled in seven rebounds.
LaGrange is back in action on Tuesday, February 7 when they host Piedmont. Game time is slated for 5 p.m. at historic Mariotti Gym.
NOTES
The Panthers entered the game trailing the all-time series 50-6 with just the one double-digit victory … the three straight wins are the longest in the series for LC.
