Mustangs Race Past Express on Student-Athlete Recognition Day

Auburn, ME – CMCC Women's Basketball recorded a statement win against Monroe University-Bronx on Sunday afternoon in their final home game of the regular season. The Mustangs got all 18 rostered players into the game and came away with an impressive 111-62 victory over the #4 ranked team in NJCAA DIII. Caitlyn McCoy led the way with a game-high 27 points from nine three-pointers.

Before the game, the team honored the seven members of its graduating class. Zoe Bedford, Ava Smith, Cassie Ririnui, Stella Laubenstein, Hunter Hartsgrove, Jenny Chaput, and Autumn Peterson each received a framed portrait and had their photos taken with friends and family on the court as part of Student-Athlete Recognition Day.

The game was played at a lightning-fast speed with both teams pressing on every possession and substitutions being made on nearly every stoppage. The Express led early after Smith made the first basket to put the Mustangs up 2-0. Salimah Williams and Jazmyne Rios each hit three-pointers to give the visitors an 8-4 lead, but it would not last long. The freshmen duo from Australia of Josie Friend and Breanna Dwyer made layups on back-to-back possessions to put the hosts in front for good with a 10-8 lead with 5:13 remaining in the first quarter.

Monroe trailed only 21-15 at the end of the first ten minutes, but Central Maine was just getting warmed up having gotten 13 different players on the court early. The hosts added 25 points in the second with McCoy and Gabbie Tibbetts both connecting from beyond the arc and Smith using her size in the paint to put up six points and pull down four rebounds. When the buzzer sounded for halftime, the Mustangs had a 19-point edge up 46-25.

If anything, CMCC was stronger after the break, scoring 35 points in the third quarter. The team broke the press well and hit open shots. McCoy added three more triples, and the defense forced ten turnovers. Keilani Horne set up one of the most impressive plays of the season in the final minute, throwing a no-look, back door pass between two defenders to a wide-open Anais Balla Zambo for an easy layup.

The fourth quarter had a special moment as well. Monroe University-Bronx head coach Damel Ling was called for a technical foul with 2:38 remaining in the game, allowing Chaput to enter a game for the first time all season to take the two free throws. The local product out of Edward Little High School picked up an injury in preseason that derailed her campaign, but she got her moment in the spotlight, knocking down both shots in her "senior night" appearance. In total, all seven graduating players got on the stat sheet combining for 40 of the team's points.

Central Maine outshot Monroe 46.7% to 34.7% from the field and controlled the boards with a 52-29 edge in rebounds. Smith (15), Tibbetts (11), Ririnui (10), Balla Zambo (10), and Dwyer (10) followed McCoy's game-high 27 points with double-digit totals of their own. Smith also had a fantastic day in the paint. The Casco, ME native pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds to put up a double-double. Beverly Williams paced the Express with 18 points.

The Mustangs improve to 22-1 overall this season heading into the final stretch before the YSCC Tournament. They now wait more than a week for their final conference game of the season, travelling to South Portland to face archrival SMCC on Wednesday, February 11^th.