Auburn, ME – The CMCC Women's Basketball defense kept the Word of Life Huskies off the scoreboard for the first half, and had eleven players play at least 13 minutes in a 95-10 win in the team's return to Yankee Small College Conference play. The Mustangs remain undefeated at 16-0 overall.
An injury-plagued Central Maine team was without both its captains, Rosa Prieto and Zoe Bedford, as well as usual starter Hunter Hartsgrove, but leaned on leading scorer Ella Lavigne in the first quarter. The Colorado native scored 18 points in the first five minutes on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting performance.
The defense harangued WOLBI into 15 turnovers in the first quarter, as head coach Andrew Morong rotated in ten different players.
"I've been on the other side of that as a coach and I know it's not a great feeling," Morong said after the game. "We really tried to manage the game the best that we could. But they busted their butts in the second half. You wouldn't have known that they were down by a lot. They worked really hard and outrebounded us for stints in the third and fourth quarters. I think that's a credit to their kids and the coaches for not giving up."
Six different scorers had at least one bucket in the second quarter with the hosts adding another 20 points to their side of the scoreboard. When the horn sounded for halftime, the Mustangs took a 51-0 lead back into the locker room.
It didn't take long for the Huskies to end the shutout in the third quarter. Addie Phillips came up with a steal on the opening possession and laid the ball up and in for their first points of the day.
Autumn Peterson took over in the third quarter for Central Maine. The first year from Cherryfield, ME joined the team at the end of the first semester after playing on the CMCC volleyball team. The former All-Penobscot Valley Conference player at Narraguagus High School found her rhythm, knocking down five three-pointers and adding two more in the fourth for a total of seven.
"It's not easy at any level to hit seven threes in a game," said Morong. "We see it every day in practice, so it doesn't surprise us. But I scolded her after her first rotation. I let her know that she can't just be out there, we rely on her and how she can shoot from outside. She just stepped it up and rose to the occasion."
Four players finished the night in double digits. Lavigne led the way with a game-high 25, Peterson had 21, while Jenny Chaput and Cassie Ririnui each finished with 12. Marney Rees pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
CMCC finishes off the weekend with a visit to Washington County Community College. The Mustangs tip off against the Golden Eagles in Calais, ME at 11:00 am.
