Hartsgrove Dominant Again in 96-32 Win over WCCC

Auburn, ME – Reigning USCAA Player of the Week Hunter Hartsgrove turned in another solid performance for CMCC Women's Basketball, connecting on 10 threes and scoring 43 points to help lead the Mustangs to a 96-32 win over Washington County. The defense forced 40 turnovers and held WCCC to just 24.6% from the field.

"My team has done a really good job of finding me when I start to get hot, and everything kind of just flows from there," Hartsgrove said in her postgame interview. "The more game experience you have the better and those pre-game nerves just start to calm down."

Washington County took a surprise lead with Donajah Watkins putting in three early baskets to go up 6-2. Hartsgrove restored order with a pair of threes that helped turn an 8-8 tie into a 16-11 Mustangs' lead by the end of the first quarter. Central Maine struggled to finish at the rim in the first half, shooting only 28.8% from the field, but were saved by their offensive rebounding that gave them multiple looks on quite a few possessions.

Hartsgrove continued to knock down threes in the second quarter and the defense began to stymie the Golden Eagles' offense. By the end of the first half, the Patten, ME native had seven triples while Washington County had turned the ball over 21 times and scored only seven points in the second quarter. CMCC headed back to the locker room with a 43-18 advantage.

The hosts came storming out of the gates after halftime, equaling their entire first-quarter total of 16 points in just three minutes and nearly doubling their score for the game. Eight different players scored in the quarter, and Hartsgrove was 6-for-10 from the field, scoring 16 of the 41 points herself. The defense held WCCC to just three points, as CMCC pulled away to a massive 84-21 lead.

Hartsgrove connected on a jump shot on the team's first possession of the fourth quarter, but that would be the red-shirt guard's final action in the game. She ended her night with 43 points, 10 threes, six rebounds, and four steals in just 22 minutes of action, two points shy of her career high set on the road against Word of Life. Caitlyn McCoy and Abilene Corson stepped up in her place to knock down shots from beyond the arc in the final minutes, as Central Maine cruised to a 64-point victory.

"Our offense comes from our defense," said McCoy after the game. "I think we average around 90 points per game. We would not score close to that if we didn't start on the defensive end. We're super long and fast. We use that to our advantage to take over games from there."

The Mustangs once again controlled the boards, outrebounding the Golden Eagles 58-38. McCoy followed Hartsgrove in double figures with 11 points while fellow first-years Josie Friend and Breanna Dwyer each scored eight points. Friend also had a team-high seven rebounds while Corson led the squad with six assists. CMCC finished the day 16-for-46 from beyond the arc. Watkins and Kiarra Maxwell paced Washington County with eight points apiece and Watkins added a game-high 11 rebounds in the loss.

Central Maine improves to 19-0 overall this season. Up next for the #1 ranked Mustangs, a visit from #2 UMaine-Augusta on Wednesday, January 28^th for a battle between the two top-ranked teams in USCAA DII. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm.