LaGrange ended its regular season with an 83-80 loss to Maryville at Mariotti Gym on Saturday. The Panthers dropped to 20-4 overall and 11-3 in the GSAC.
Despite the loss, the Panthers will be the second seed in next weekend's GSAC Championship Tournament at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala. The Panthers tied with Piedmont for second in the regular season standings, but earned the second seed on a tie-breaker.
Maryville (21-4, 14-0 GSAC) won its 16th straight game in completing an unbeaten conference schedule. The Lady Scots are now 25-0 all-time against the Panthers.
Katie Covington had a game and career-high 40 points in the loss. Covington came within a point of tying the school single-game scoring record set by Jessica Brown in 2001 . She had a game-high 10 rebounds to finish with her eighth double-double of the season. Covington had 27 points in the second half.
Covington, Heather Miller and Elizabeth Williams scored 71 of the Panthers' 80 points. Miller had 16 points, while Williams added 15.
Janell Menard led Maryville with 22 points. Paige Seiver added 16 points, 12 coming off 3-point shots. Lailah Farmer followed with 13 points and 10 assists, while Tayler Smith had 12.
The Panthers trailed 42-37 at halftime. The Lady Scots opened up their largest lead of the game, 58-45, with less than 13 minutes left in the game.
The Panthers chipped away at the deficit. Covington made a pair of free throws to get the Panthers within one, 81-80, with six seconds left.
Alexis Rouvelas made two free throws to push the Lady Scots' lead to three, 83-80, with three seconds left. The Panthers were unable to get off a tying shot attempt before the buzzer as the Lady Scots held on.
