For the first time in over a month the Lady Mustangs found themselves trailing in the first half. A loud and raucous crowd, missed wide-open layups, and early foul trouble could not keep CM from taking the lead back, and carrying it the rest of the way.
Susie French (Greenland, NH) led the Lady Mustangs early on with 10 points in the first 11 minutes of the game, but picked up her 2nd foul with 8:18 to go in the first half. With French heading to the bench for the rest of the half and only a 3-point cushion, the rest of the Lady Mustangs stepped up in a big way. Freshman, Lexi Larson (Milo, ME), scored the next 8 CM points (including two 3's). Jaime Swart followed Larson's 8-point run with a traditional 3-point play, and the Lady Mustangs found themselves with a 10-point lead at the half (36-26).
SMCC opened the second half with a layup, but CM ripped off the next 7 points. The lead eventually bloomed to a 19-point advantage for the Lady Mustangs with 14:09 remaining.
The Seawolves cut the lead down to 9, but could not get over the hump. SMCC was led by Danielle McCusker and Maria Veino who each recorded 15 points.
The Lady Mustangs had multiple contributors in the crucial matchup that pitted the last two teams in the YSCC without a conference loss. Gabby Foy (Wilton, ME) hit three 2nd half 3's to finish with 16 points. French, who led all scorers, tallied 18 points. Laura Soohey (Bremen, ME) finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. And last, but certainly not least, Maggie McConkey (Fryeburg, ME) finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals and only 1 turnover to lead CM.
With the win the Lady Mustangs improve to 12-1 overall and 8-0 in the YSCC. Their final game of the first semester will be this Friday when they travel to Bangor to take on the Golden Eagles of Eastern Maine CC.