Central Maine Community College’s Brooke Reynolds, left, drives around UMA’s Caitlin LaFountain during their game in Augusta in November. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)

AUBURN — The weekend the Central Maine Community College women’s basketball team has prepared for since September has arrived.

The Mustangs open their national championship defense Thursday in the first round of the the Division 2 USCAA tournament in Uniontown, Pennsylvania.

CMCC (28-1) will open against the host team, Penn State Fayette (3-19). The Mustangs lead DII in steals per game (21.7) and also assists per game (22), and the Lions have lost 16 straight, but head coach Andrew Morong and the team are not taking their opponent lightly.

The Lions have a good 3-point defense allowing just 30 percent from beyond the arc. Thankfully for CMCC, its offense works from inside-out.

“We are lucky we have dynamic post players that can press and get up and down the court and change defenses on the fly,” Morong said. “I want the ball to get in the paint before we shoot an outside shot. We shoot better once the ball gets inside first. Kristina Blais and Alex Bessey penetrating and then kicking out, we just want to get the ball to the paint as much as can and we draw a lot of fouls.”

Morong’s offense consists of dominant, young post players and a solid backcourt. Four of the Mustang’s first seven rotation players are freshmen, with Jordyn Reynolds leading the group with 11.7 points per game and 8.9 boards. While only just a freshman, Reynolds is ready for her first tournament as the Mustang’s defend their 2017 title.

“I’d say everyone on the team works hard and plays their role,” Reynolds said. “When we step on the court, whether it’s practice or a game, we do our job to the best of our abilities and go hard every second we are out there.”

Morong needs that kind of mental stability from his young squad moving deeper into the tournament as the teams they face will only get more tough.

The fourth-seeded Warren Wilson College is 18-8 and is a potential opponent in the second round. Junior center Lilvia Bradbury averages 15 points per game and will be a tough matchup for CMCC’s Brooke Reynolds, who averages 11.9 points a game to go along with her 4.5 steals.

The second-seeded Johnson and Wales (19-4) averages 45 rebounds a game, just under the Mustangs’ 46.4.

For Morong, it will all come down to his team playing together, and the close bond the group has cultivated coming to fruition on the court.

“We have been practicing together since September and they have a lot of classes together so it does become like a family,” Morong said. “It’s not always going to be perfect and it hasn’t this year but they have been resilient.”