Mustangs March on to National Championship Game, 74-67

Buffalo, NY – CMCC Women's Basketball advanced to the USCAA DII national championship game with a 74-67 win over Penn State-York in Friday's semifinal at Villa Maria College. The #1 ranked Mustangs fell behind early but took the lead for good late in the first half before holding off the #4 Nittany Lions. Three first-year players led the way offensively with 15 points from Caitlyn McCoy and Australian natives Breanna Dwyer and Josie Friend scoring 14 and 12 respectively.

Penn State hit the first shot of the game and Breanna Dwyer answered with two free throws, but that was about the only thing that went right for the Mustangs early on. Central Maine missed its first five shots and committed seven turnovers over the opening six minutes, falling behind 11-2 and forcing head coach Andrew Morong to take a rare timeout.

The move seemed to wake the team up. McCoy knocked down a three-pointer on the next possession, followed by a Keilani Horne jumper and a triple from Kennedy Lampert. Just like that, the Mustangs had made it a one-possession game down 13-10 with 2:16 remaining.

Trailing 16-12 after the first, CMCC once again struggled to start the quarter. Harper Poff got a layup to go and USCAA Player of the Year Delaney Burroughs made an and-one finish at the rim, hitting the free throw to cap an 8-0 run that made it 21-12 PSU-York.

USCAA 1^st-Team All-American Dwyer sparked into life to help mount a comeback, making three buckets over the next three minutes. Ava Smith and Friend chipped in as well before McCoy hit her second triple of the game to tie it at 25-25. The Mustangs went back to her again on the next possession and the first-year guard out of Leavitt Area High School delivered, sinking another shot from beyond the arc to give Central Maine a lead it would not relinquish. Horne and Anais Balla Zambo had shots in the final minutes to make it a 32-29 edge heading into halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, Burroughs and Poff each scored on either side of a layup by Friend to make it a one-point game. Friend had the hot hand though. She and Balla Zambo put together a steady diet of finishes in the paint. Horne connected on a shot from outside, and suddenly it was a double-digit lead midway through the third quarter.

Skylar Curley, Megan Donley, and Burroughs went a combined 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the last few minutes, pulling Penn State-York within four, only for another CMCC player to answer. Hunter Hartsgrove found her rhythm to respond, hitting a jumper, a layup, and a three-pointer to head into the final ten minutes up 52-43.

McCoy and Smith started the fourth quarter with buckets to balloon the Central Maine lead up to 14 points, the largest of the game. That gave the Nittany Lions to big a hole to dig out of with not much time remaining.

Burroughs showed her guts, scoring 11 of her game-high 19 points in the second half. The sophomore had a trey in between two three-pointers by Kaya Camasta to help close the gap but was still held below her usual 25 points per game. Meanwhile, Camasta had 12 fourth-quarter points to pull her side back. Another layup from her followed by a make by Poff capped a 16-3 run that had them down by just one point with 4:12 to play.

However, that was as close as the Nittany Lions would get. Friend immediately made a layup to make it 62-59. Dwyer laid the ball up and in off a timeout, and it felt like the dagger when McCoy knocked down a big three to make it 69-61 with 1:55 left. PSU-York got baskets from both Burroughs and Camasta in the final minute, but CMCC made enough free throws down the stretch to finish off the game.

The Mustangs recovered from their slow start to shoot 38.7% from the field and 8-for-36 from three-point range. They had a slight edge over the Nittany Lions in rebounds, 50-48, and forced 27 turnovers compared to their 19, but only hit 8-of-20 free throws. Dwyer posted a double-double with 11 rebounds to go along with her 14 points. Smith also pulled down 11 boards and had seven points on 3-for-5 shooting. Both players had a team-high three steals. Four Penn State-York players finished in double figures with Burroughs (19), Camasta (18), Curley (16), and Poff (10). Curley had a game-high 17 rebounds for her own double-double while Camasta and Michaela Fink each pulled down eight. Only six PSU-York players saw the floor compared to 14 for CMCC.

#1 Central Maine moves on to Saturday's USCAA DII national championship game where they'll face #3 Miami-Hamilton. It's the third straight year the two sides have met in the tournament, with the Mustangs winning a 2024 quarterfinal matchup, 63-51, and the Harriers taking a semifinal showdown last year, 70-57. This is the program's seventh appearance in the national championship game, having previously won the title in 2017, 2019, and 2022. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 pm at Erie Community College.