A battle near the top of the Yankee Small College Conference took place Wednesday night in Auburn, as the University of Maine-Augusta Moose women’s basketball team visited the Central Maine Community College Mustangs. The Moose would finish off a season sweep with a 75-58 victory on Dave Gonyea Court at Kirk Hall.
UMA (12-5, 8-2 YSCC) got off to a quick start like it did in a December 6 win over CMCC, opening up a 9-2 lead just 1:53 into the first quarter. They later extended it to 10 at 17-7 on a Madeline Suhr layup. The guests held a 23-17 advantage after 10 minutes. The Mustangs cut it to a single point in the second thanks to a 7-0 run, but a late three point play by Sydney LeBlanc and a layup by Taz Valencia had UMA up 41-35 at halftime.
Some cold shooting by CMCC in the third quarter (2-18) allowed UMaine-Augusta to push it back to a 12 point advantage headed to the fourth. The Mustangs made one more run on a three point play by Ja’Naia Moran to slice it to seven early in the fourth, but the Moose were too much down the stretch using a 13-2 run later in the period to stretch it out to their biggest lead of 18. The hosts never got closer than 13 the rest of the way, as two of their three losses this season have come to UMA as have both of their conference defeats. It makes the first time that CMCC has lost to the same opponent more than once in a season since the 2015-2016 campaign, when they lost three times that year to the Moose.
Suhr led the way for UMaine-Augusta with 24 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and three blocks. LeBlanc had 20 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Also in double figures for the Moose was Hope Butler with 10 points and seven rebounds. Safena Te Nana-Williams led CMCC in the loss with 11 points, while Sarah Poli had 10 points and six rebounds. The Mustangs shot just 25% from the floor in the game and fall to 18-3, 7-2 in the conference. The two teams were ranked in the Top 10 in the most recent USCAA Division II National rankings, as UMA was #8 and CMCC was #3.
The nationally ranked #8 University of Maine-Augusta Moose women’s basketball team defeated the #3 Central Maine Community College Mustangs 75-58 in Auburn on Wednesday night. Photos courtesy of Kristie Leblanc
