South Portland, ME - For the 1st time in 3 years, and for the 3rd time in 5 years, the Lady Mustangs are the Yankee Small College Conference Regular Season Champions, clinching the top seed in the YSCC Elite 8 Tournament scheduled for next week. CM clinched the top seed with a rout of #2 Southern Maine Communtiy College, 85-57.
The Lady Mustangs jumped out of the gate early, scoring 30 points in the 1st quarter and going into the half with a 50-30 lead. Never satisfied, CM opened the 2nd half by scoring the 1st 10 points, ballooning the lead to 30. After shooting a dismal 3-52 from the 3-point line in their last 3 games combined, the cold streak was destined to snap. CM connected on 8 1st half triples in only 12 attempts, then hit 4 of 5 attempts in the 3rd quarter.
Brooke Reynolds (Poland, ME) dominated the game, scoring a game-high 21 points to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds. Reynolds could not be stopped, sniping 3 steals, swatting 2 blocks, and hitting on 9 of 12 field goal attempts and connecting on all 3 of her foul shots. Nicole Hamblin (Fayette, ME) connected on 4 of 5 triples in her most confident display of the season, finishing with 14 points. Jenny Schlim (Nottingham, NH) was a matchup nightmare for the Seawolves. Schlim scored from the inside and outside on her way to 11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Tianna Harriman (Auburn, ME) also connected on 4 triples, to finish with 12 points.
Holly Decourcey (Billerica, MA), Kristina Blais (Lewiston, ME) Rylee Moore (Livemore, ME), Eraleena Gethers-Hairston (Auburn, ME), and Ellie Harrington (Hampshire, UK) all played solid defense. Gethers-Hairston supplied 4 devistating blocks, while Moore, Blais, and Harrington each took a charge.
According to Coach Morong, "Our defense in the first quarter was suspect giving up 21 points, and we really challenged our women to crank it up on the defensive side of the ball. They certainly did, expecially in the second and forth quarters. There intensity on both sides of the ball was tremendous, something we will need to bring again on Friday night to come away with another road victory. Our shooting percentage was a direct result of our ball movement. Any time we made four or more passes we were rewarded with a clean look at the hoop. Our shooters were down and ready to let it fly, which has been an emphasis in practice. We've just been focused on what we can control, and not worrying about rankings, standings, or other people's opinions. We prepare for every opponent the same and have identical standards every time we step on the floor to compete."
Kaylah Abdul led SMCC with 15 points.
With the win CM improves to 25-1 on the year, and 13-0 in the Yankee Conference. They look to finish with an unbeaten conference record when they travel to NHTI on Friday (8:00pm) for their final game of the regular season.
