AUGUSTA — Eleven minutes without a Central Maine Community College point or field goal.

Jenn Lola knocking down University of Maine at Augusta 3-pointers from all over the civic center court.

Ashley Peaslee’s fast feet and hazardous hands ending seemingly every other CMCC possession in a turnover.

Any of the above would have harbored bad news for the Mustangs. In tandem, they spelled disaster Wednesday night in a 65-46 Moose rout.

UMA (8-2) harassed CMCC (4-3) into 4-for-30 shooting and 20 turnovers in the first half.

Lola surpassed the Mustangs’ cumulative offensive efforts with far less iron fanfare.

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She nailed four 3-pointers and scored 15 points in the first half, alone, mounting a 34-11 Moose lead at intermission.

Augusta coasted home from there. Lola, the former Monmouth Academy star who returned to the Moose this season as a sophomore after a two-year absence, finished with 26 points and eight rebounds.

Peaslee put together 16 points, 11 steals and seven assists. Katie Poirier combined 19 points with 17 rebounds and five blocked shots.

“Lola shot 60 percent from 3-points. She’s a special player,” CMCC coach Andrew Morong said. “And we don’t have that six-foot workhorse in the paint like Poirier. She’s good. She put us exactly where she wanted us to be.”

Lisbon’s Jenn Caton scored all of her team-high 12 points in the second half for Central Maine, which warmed up marginally to 16-for-62 (26 percent) from the field.

Kailey Martin chipped in eight points. Jaime Swart and Karlee Biskup bolstered the Mustangs with seven apiece.

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Biskup and Danielle McCusker are hampered by knee injuries for CMCC, which suited up only seven other players.

“That’s our point guard (Biskup), and McCusker is one of the best players in the Yankee Conference,” Morong said. “They tried to give us what they could, and it was very obvious that they just didn’t have it. They will play very limited minutes the rest of the first semester.”

UMA forced 36 CMCC turnovers. Peaslee made eight of Augusta’s 15 first-half steals.

CM actually led early, 3-2, on Biskup’s 3-pointer in the opening minute.

Sixteen straight misses and the same number of giveaways preceded the Mustangs’ next field goal — a putback by McCusker wth 7:03 to go.

After Teira Durgin’s two free throws made it 5-5 with 18:14 on the clock, UMA erupted for 19 unanswered points.

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Lola’s streaky shooting, Peaslee’s transition-fueling thefts and Katie Poirier’s dominion over the boards spelled doom for the Mustangs.

Poirier put up 10 points and Peaslee seven in the half.

CM outscored UMA in the second half by a modest 35-31 margin.

“The last 10 minutes, I was very proud of the players who were in the game,” Morong said. “They didn’t care what the score was. They played hard right to the final horn, and that’s all you can ask.”

The Mustangs will play four conference road games in the next seven days.

Then help comes in the spring semester.

“Unofficially we have six more players coming in,” Morong said.

 koakes@sunjournal.com


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