Auburn, ME – Ella Lavigne finished with a game-high 37 points and the CMCC women's basketball team cruised to a 75-45 win vs Crandall University in their season opener on Saturday night. The Mustangs held the Chargers to just 15 points combined in the second and third quarters to pull away. 
 
First-year Jenny Chaput was the next highest scorer for the hosts with seven, and 11 different Mustangs recorded points to begin the campaign. Kelsey Alward paced Crandall with 17, while Olivia Hanham had 10 points off the bench for the visitors. 
 
"We still have a long way to go defensively," said head coach Andrew Morong. "That's to be expected with a young team so early in the season. I think it's a great learning opportunity for us. If we can look ourselves in the mirror when we're watching film and just own stuff, learn from it, I think we'll be very hard to score on come January and February." 
 
Both teams struggled to hit shots out of the gate and stayed within touching distance of each other through most of the first half. Central Maine relied heavily on Lavigne in the early going, as the USCAA 1st-Team All-American scored 17 of her team's first 20 points. 
 
The Chargers tied the game at 19-19 with 3:29 left in the second quarter before CMCC went on a 10-3 run to take the lead for good before halftime. However, it was the third quarter where the Mustangs really showed what they're capable of. The squad had 16 unanswered points during a five-minute stretch and outscored Crandall 21-7 overall in the period to take a 50-29 lead into the fourth. 
 
Central Maine had its best offensive production in the final quarter, putting 25 points on the board. With 3:09 left in the contest, Lavigne was eight points away from the CMCC single-game record of 45 set by Lynn Girouard. She finished with 37 on 14-of-22 shooting and added 15 rebounds and seven steals.
 
"It was the most complete effort from a male or female basketball player that I've seen in my now 13 seasons at the college," Morong said. "I was going to let her go for the record before she asked for a sub late on. Very proud of her. That's what your All-Americans are supposed to do." 
 
Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, going a combined 4-for-31 on three-pointers. The Mustangs attempted the most and were 3-for-20 with Lavigne, Zoe Bedford, and Brooke Piscitelli connecting from outside. 
 
The October 4th opener was the earliest start to the women's basketball season in program history, beating the old mark by nearly two weeks, when the Mustangs played their first game of the 2019-20 campaign on October 20th. 
 
"It was our first time all being together," Lavigne said after the game. "It was a little stressful early, but I had confidence in my team, and we pulled it out. I can't believe we already had a game. Feels like we just got here two weeks ago." 
 
CMCC continues its slate of games against Canadian opposition next weekend when the team heads to New Brunswick for three games in three days. The Mustangs face the University of New Brunswick-Saint John on Friday October 11th, before facing St. Thomas University on Saturday and Sunday.