Auburn, ME – CMCC Women's Basketball received its first loss of the season after a tough 87-81 defeat to UMaine-Augusta in overtime on Wednesday night. The defeat snapped the Mustangs' 47-game winning streak against YSCC opponents and was the team's first loss on its home court since 2022.
Before the game, CMCC honored Ella Lavigne on her accomplishment of reaching 1,000 career points during the team's New York road trip last weekend. Head coach Andrew Morong presented the Fort Collins, CO native with flowers and a framed photo, while a video message from her parents played on the jumbotron at Kirk Hall. The sophomore is the eighth player in program history to eclipse the milestone.
Both teams came out swinging to open the game, landing early buckets and swapping the lead in a prelude of what the game would look like. The Moose went on a 10-1 run to end the first quarter and took a 20-13 lead after the opening ten minutes. Sage Fortin was 4-for-5 from the field during that stretch and had 12 points while the visitors shot 63.6% as a whole.
The Mustangs then responded with a 20-point quarter of their own to lead 33-31 heading into halftime. Lavigne had nine points in the first half while Chantel Ouellette had seven in 12 minutes worth of work.
UMA spread the workload around in the third quarter, with six players contributing points. Alisyn Alley scored five to help the Moose go up 49-45. In the process, UMaine-Augusta became the first team all season to outscore Central Maine in more than one quarter.
CMCC captain Rosa Prieto put up eight points to start the fourth and bring the Mustangs within three points at 59-56 with 6:30 to play in regulation. However, UMA stretched the lead back out to seven heading into the final minute.
That was when coach Morong's squad showed some of their best stuff to rally back. Free throws from Ava Smith and Lavigne, along with back-to-back steals and a layup made it a one-point game with 20 seconds left. Fortin knocked down a free throw to make it 73-71, but Ouellette dropped a layup through to tie the score. The Mustangs even had one last chance to win the game in regulation, inbounding the ball with 0.2 seconds on the clock. Smith came up with the catch and quick shot through the cylinder that momentarily sparked wild celebrations, but the referees waived the shot off as coming after the horn, sending the game to overtime.
Central Maine had all the momentum and scored a fast five points in the first minute of the extra frame. However, foul trouble caught up with the Mustangs. Riley Hebler, Lavigne, and Prieto all fouled out during the five-minute OT period, and the Moose put together a 12-0 run to lead 85-78 in the last 30 seconds. Alley hit her foul shots down the stretch to prevent any hope of another miraculous comeback and the #6 ranked UMaine-Augusta squad claimed its biggest victory of the season.
Lavigne ended with a team-high 21 points and 10 rebounds followed by 16 points from Prieto and 12 from Ouellette, who looked back to her form from last season after 30 minutes of playing time. Fortin led all scorers with 23 points and dealt out eight assists. The Mustangs won the rebound battle 45 to 37 but the Moose were lights out from the field shooting 47.5% on the night.
UMA was also the last YSCC team to beat CMCC, and the last team to beat them on their home court, way back on February 2, 2022. That completed a regular season sweep of the Mustangs that year, only for Central Maine to knock off UMaine-Augusta in the USCAA national tournament the next month.
CMCC now sits at 20-1 overall and 9-1 in conference play. The Mustangs currently sit second in the YSCC standings with two games in hand on the Moose. Next up, Central Maine hosts the Community College of Rhode Island Knights on Sunday, February 2nd. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
