NEVADA, Mo. — Clara Swearingen hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left to lift Nevada to a 42-41 win over Carthage on Thursday night in a non-conference girls basketball clash inside Wynn Gymnasium.
Nevada improved to 7-1, while Carthage fell to 3-4.
“The girls battled hard for 32 minutes tonight,” Carthage coach Scott Moore told SoMo Sports. “I’m really proud of our effort. It was a back and forth game all night long. Nevada just happened to have the last good shot of the game and it went in. We will learn a lot of lessons from this game…how every shot, pass, rebound and defensive possession matters when you play good teams.”
A sophomore guard, Swearingen scored 22 points with three treys for Nevada. Junior guard Maddy Majors added 15 points for the host Tigers.
Junior guard Kianna Yates scored 21 points to lead Carthage, while freshman guard Maggie Boyd added eight points.
This one went down to the wire.
Carthage’s Presley Probert hit two free throws to tie the game at 38 before Yates made a coast-to-coast layup to give the visiting Tigers a 40-38 lead with 45 seconds to play.
Nevada’s Grace Barnes made one free throw before a charity from Yates put Carthage in front 41-39 with 15 seconds to play.
But Nevada’s Swearingen hit a pull-up 3-pointer from the left wing with 3.9 seconds left. A last-second runner from Yates was off the mark.
Swearingen scored 13 of her team’s 15 points in the opening frame as Nevada led 15-11.
Carthage received a hoop from Boyd, four points from Yates and a free throw from Landry Cochran, but the visitors trailed 21-18 at halftime.
Carthage began the second half on an 11-2 run, with Yates scoring the first three hoops of the third quarter.
But Nevada recorded the final seven points of the frame to take a 30-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
Nevada hosts Pleasant Hill on Monday night.
Carthage meest Ozark at the Pink & White Invitational on Dec. 27.
“We’ll need to focus more in practice on the little details and make sure that our practice intensity elevates to a more game-like level,” Moore said.
