Auburn, ME – CMCC Women's Basketball bounced back from its first defeat of the season, defeating the Community College of Rhode Island Knights 109-79 at Kirk Hall on Sunday afternoon. Ella Lavigne paced the Mustangs with 34 points while Riley Hebler and Ava Smith each added 23 of their own. Central Maine finished a season sweep of a strong CCRI, with the NJCAA school having lost just five times this season, and scored 100+ points in a game for the eighth time this year.
The Mustangs led start to finish in this one. Smith had a monster first quarter, shooting 7-for-7 from the field and scoring 14 points in seven minutes. CMCC went on a 14-3 run towards the end of the opening ten-minute period, leading 28-18 heading into the second, and going up 51-41 at the break.
After halftime, Lavigne took over in the third quarter. The Fort Collins, CO native dropped 17 points in just eight minutes, as the Mustangs pulled away with a 35-point effort. Managing a 20+ point lead, head coach Andrew Morong cycled 12 different players into the game in the fourth quarter to see out the win.
Central Maine shot 51.2% from the field and went 11-for-27 from beyond the arc for an excellent shooting day. The hosts also won the rebound battle 46 to 30. Lavigne added 15 rebounds to her 34 points, giving her a double-double for the 11th time this year. Hebler's 23 points were a season-high for the Sanford High School product, just beating out her 21 points scored against the Knights on the road. Stella Laubenstein added nine points and Jenny Chaput had seven off the bench, as the Mustangs improved to 21-1 overall.
Next up, the women face a different Knights team with a rescheduled conference game against YSCC opponent Vermont State University-Randolph. CMCC and VTSU-Randolph play in Auburn on Friday, February 7th with tip-off scheduled for 2:00 pm.
