Coming off its seventh consecutive Yankee Small College Conference tournament championship over past weekend, the Central Maine Community College women’s basketball team now has another title in its sights.
The Mustangs (27-1) were slotted as the No. 3 seed in the upcoming United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II national tournament. The bids, seedings and the bracket were announced Monday. CMCC is in the tournament for the seventh time in a row (there was no tournament during the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19), and is looking for its first title since 2022 and fourth overall (also 2017 and 2019).
The Mustangs’ lone loss this season was to University of Maine at Fort Kent, which is the No. 3 seed in the USCAA Division I tournament.
CMCC opens tournament play in Petersburg, Virginia, against No. 6 Miami University-Hamilton on Monday, March 11 at 8 p.m.
The Mustangs are joined in the 10-team tournament by two other Maine teams, No. 5 University of Maine at Augusta and No. 8 Southern Maine Community College.
YSCC TOURNAMENT RECAP
CMCC and UMaine-Augusta met for the third time this season in Sunday’s YSCC tournament final, and like the first two times the Mustangs came out the victor, winning 59-52 in Concord, New Hampshire.
That final score was closer to CMCC’s 70-69 road win in late November than the resounding 74-54 home win in late January.
In Sunday’s championship matchup, the Mustangs came out strong in each half, taking a 17-11 lead after one quarter and outscoring the Moose 16-8 in the third after holding a 30-29 advantage at halftime.
CMCC had a trio of go-to scorers in the game, with Destiny Mora Lopez dropping in a team-high 16 points, Rosa Prieto tallying 14 and Ella Lavigne adding 13. Mora Lopez and Lavigne were also big on the boards, Mora Lopez corralling a game-high 12 rebounds and Lavigne bringing in nine.
Alizabeth Dumont scored a game-high 20 points for UMaine-Augusta.
The Moose made it to Sunday’s final with a 67-60 win over Southern Maine CC in Saturday’s semifinal round. Alisyn Alley broke out for 32 points for UMA, while Aija Andrews led the SeaWolves with 16.
The Mustangs, meanwhile, defeated Vermont State Randolph 79-53 in Saturday’s semifinal. CMCC seized control early with a 27-11 first quarter. Lavigne led the way with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Oxford Hills graduate Molly Corbett and Prieto each contributed 11 points and Jolien Defoort scored 10 off the bench.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
CMCC LOSES HEARTBREAKER: Central Maine CC’s underdog run in the YSCC men’s tournament came to a disappointing end Sunday against host NHTI.
The sixth-seeded Mustangs won their first two tournament games as the lower seed and had a third such victory in their sights until the top-seeded Lynx rallied for an 80-78 win.
Logan Myers scored a game-high 20 points off the bench for CMCC, which led 43-33 at halftime. Harry Bates was the leading scorer among the Mustangs’ starters, with 12, while Wyatt Hathaway, Boston Caldwell and reserve Cam Pollock each tallied 11 points.
Sterling Blakely scored 17 points in 17 minutes off the bench to pace NHTI.
CMCC ends its season with a 14-14 record. The Mustangs started the season slow but found their groove near the end of January and won nine of their final 13 games.
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