Auburn, ME – CMCC Women's Basketball put on another impressive showing in front of a packed house at Kirk Hall, taking down rival Southern Maine Community College 108-42 on Wednesday night. Ella Lavigne put on a shooting clinic, going 20-for-29 from the field and finishing with 45 points, just three shy of her own single-game program record set against SMCC on the road.
The Mustangs outscored the Seawolves in all four quarters, shot 50.5% from the field as a team, won the rebound battle 55 to 22, and forced 32 turnovers from the visitors. Ava Smith had 21 points and Jenny Chaput ended with 12 to join Lavigne in double figures. Ten different players put their name on the scoresheet for Central Maine and 13 players saw at least five minutes of action, as the hosts put up 100+ points for the ninth time this campaign.
"Obviously an impressive team effort in front of a sold-out crowd with so many friends and family present," said head coach Andrew Morong. "I'm very proud of our women who work tirelessly for each other. We have a lot that we still need to clean up though, and I understand that may not be evident by the final score."
Lavigne was locked in right from the get-go. The sophomore from Fort Collins, CO was one of five second-year players to be honored by the team before the start of the game, along with Riley Hebler, Marney Rees, and captains Rosa Prieto and Zoe Bedford. Lavigne scored an astonishing 20 points in the first quarter alone to give CMCC a 24-8 lead after ten minutes.
She added nine more in the second with Smith joining her with seven points in seven minutes on a 3-for-3 shooting performance for the quarter. The Mustangs went into the locker room with a 53-13 lead thanks to Smith's three-pointer at the buzzer.
Central Maine had its best quarter coming out of the locker room in the second half. CMCC scored 33 points in the third with 14 from Lavigne and 10 from Smith. Coach Morong rotated in eight players off his bench in the fourth quarter, with Chaput putting up all 12 of her points on a 5-for-5 shooting run in the final ten-minute stretch.
The Mustangs complete a season sweep of the Seawolves, outscoring rival SMCC 213-112 between the two contests. The #2 ranked team in the latest USCAA D2 poll now stands at 24-1 overall and 11-1 in YSCC play.
"But young women do not come to our program to win games in February," Morong said after the game. "Young women come to our program to win games in March, and March basketball is just around the corner. We still have some significant steps to take so that we are playing our best basketball when it counts."
CMCC rounds out its regular season on Saturday, February 15th when it hosts Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Tip-off against the Panthers is slated for 1:00 pm.
