Champs! Women’s Basketball Wins 9th Straight YSCC Title

Auburn, ME – CMCC Women's Basketball made it nine consecutive YSCC Tournament championships, after a 67-57 victory over #2 seeded UMaine-Augusta. The #1 seeded Mustangs took the lead midway through the first quarter, never trailing the rest of the way, but did have to hold off a comeback attempt by the Moose in the third quarter.

Caitlyn McCoy scored a team-high 14 points on a quartet of three-pointers to lead the offensive efforts. Breana Dwyer and Ava Smith also reached double figures with 13 and 12 points respectively. The Mustangs' high-pressure defense forced the Moose into a season-high 28 turnovers. Josie Friend was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Defensive Player after compiling six steals and nine rebounds from relentless pressure over the two games. Abilene Corson took home tournament MVP honors, running the offense well with 11 assists and wearing down opponents defensively all game.

"We like to play fast and we have a deep bench so that we can just keep going and going and going," said Corson in her postgame interview. "We talk about our roles. Each person on the floor has something that they're really good at and when it all goes together it's like every puzzle piece is right there. It's amazing."

The game was a matchup of not just the top two teams in the Yankee Small College Conference, but also the top two ranked squads in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. Dwyer scored the first points of the game on a layup, but it was UMA who got off to the better start, putting together a 7-0 run and leading 10-4 after 2:36. CMCC answered with a 10-0 run, taking a lead with 4:54 remaining in the quarter thanks to baskets by Anais Balla Zambo, Dwyer, McCoy, and Smith. Four straight free throws from the Moose tied things up at 14-14. Cassie Ririnui and Corson each made layups to put the Mustangs up by four after ten minutes.

The second quarter was all about the defenses, with both teams having almost as many combined turnovers (12) as points (16). Dwyer started off with an and-one finish at the rim on the first possession, but Central Maine went more than five minutes without a point after that. Yvonne Roberge scored a layup with 8:13 left in the half, but that was UMaine-Augusta's only field goal of the quarter. Corson and McCoy added a flourish of points before the break, while the Moose kept pace with four free throws. The Mustangs led 29-21 heading into the locker room.

The hosts threatened to run away with it early in the third quarter, getting a basket from Friend and two straight buckets from Smith to lead by 14. YSCC Player of the Year Bella Petrocci started a run for UMA, hitting a three while getting fouled, and finishing off the four-point play at the line. Forward Lillian Cox had six points for the Moose midway through the frame, trimming the lead to 39-31. Another Petrocci triple pulled them within five, and four straight free throws suddenly made it a one-point game, 41-40, with 2:52 left in the third.

That was as close as UMaine-Augusta would get though. Three-pointers from Gabbie Tibbetts and Hunter Hartsgrove restored order and gave the Mustangs some momentum to close out the quarter up 47-41. The final ten minutes became all about managing that lead and stifling any comeback attempts from a rapidly tiring Moose team. All-Conference selection Hartsgrove drained another three to start the fourth quarter and the defense held the visitors to just two field goals through the first 6:30. By then, the deficit for UMA had ballooned to 15 points, and they would find themselves behind by 18 with just 2:49 remaining on the clock.

The Mustangs' 20 points in the fourth was their most in any single quarter in the game. The Moose made four buckets in the final two minutes to close the gap, but there was not enough time remaining to attempt a comeback. When the final buzzer sounded, the Central Maine team sprinted onto the floor to celebrate their ninth straight YSCC Tournament championship.

"We know we are such a hardworking team, we just needed to push those last two quarters," Dwyer said after the game. "We push each other so hard in practice when we know it is us against us. That makes us work so hard in the games."

"We're so close on the court and off the court," said Corson. "Our chemistry is so strong, I think that brings so much good energy to the game. We just want to be the most enthusiastic team, the hardest working team, and even on the bench… those players matter."

CMCC finished the game only shooting 31.4% from the field but held UMA to just 29.2% with only 14 made baskets in the defensive-minded game. The hosts had all 17 healthy players appear in the game with nine different scorers. The Moose got a game-high 17 points from Petrocci, who hit four three-pointers, while fellow All-Conference pick Cox scored 12. They made 24 free throws in the game to stay close.

Central Maine has now won 13 Yankee Small College Conference tournament titles, capturing every single one since the 2016-17 season. Five of those have come against UMaine-Augusta. The Mustangs move on to the USCAA DII National Championships in Buffalo, NY. They will find out their seeding in the national tournament on Tuesday, February 24^th. The first round of bracket play begins on March 3^rd.