Buffalo, NY – The #2 seeded CMCC Women's Basketball team survived a hard-fought USCAA National Tournament quarterfinal against #7 Cincinnati Clermont 67-62, taking the lead and the win in the final minute of play. WCBA and USCAA 1st-Team All-American Ella Lavigne was spectacular, scoring more than half her team's total with 34 points including the game-winning bucket.
"We didn't play our best game, but we found a way to grind out a win," said head coach Andrew Morong. "Well done to UC Clermont, they played a great game. Now we have to focus on playing up to our caliber in the semifinals."
The Mustangs struggled out of the gate in the opening quarter, going scoreless for the first 6:14. The Cougars looked a little more comfortable having won their play-in game on Tuesday 56-40 over #10 Penn State DuBois. They jumped out to an 8-0 lead before a Marney Rees layup got Central Maine on the board. CMCC made up for lost time with a pair of threes by Autumn Peterson and Rosa Prieto trimming the deficit to 15-11 at the end of the first.
That momentum carried into the second quarter with Lavigne giving the Mustangs their first lead of the game, completing a 17-7 run with a pair of free throws to go up by two. The Fort Collins, CO native had 14 of her side's 21 points in the second ten-minute stretch, running the lead as high as eight before settling for a 32-26 advantage heading into the locker room.
UC Clermont got six points from star forward Tyra Murphy, who currently sits one point ahead of Lavigne for most points in USCAA D2 this season, as well as six from freshman guard Tamira Scott in the third quarter. The Cougars defense hassled the Mustangs into nine turnovers, helping them hold Central Maine to just 13 points. Keara Brooks hit a jumper right before the buzzer to give Cincinnati a 46-45 lead with one quarter left to play.
With the season on the line, CMCC's leading scorer took over. Lavigne scored her team's first 11 points of the fourth, keeping the Mustangs within one possession midway through the frame thanks to a series of difficult layups. Chantel Ouellette and Murphy traded baskets, and Olivia Crawford made a layup to put UC Clermont up 62-58 with 2:48 remaining.
It was the last shot the Cougars would make.
Another layup by Lavigne and a free throw from Ouellette pulled the Mustangs within one with 1:27 to go. Riley Hebler stole the ball away only to be called for a double dribble as she tried to push the pace. Murphy missed a jumper, but the ball went out of bounds off a Central Maine player with 36 seconds left. Finally, Ouellette secured a defensive rebound with 23 ticks on the clock and a timeout advanced the ball up the floor.
There was no secret about who the Mustangs would look for on the inbounds play. With two defenders trying to stay on Lavigne, Ouellette somehow still found her with a lob pass towards the far side of the hoop. The sophomore quickly put the ball up and in for a 63-62 lead, but she wasn't done yet.
Immediately after, Lavigne got her right hand on Kendra Gorsline's inbounds pass, scooping up the deflected ball and laying it in as she was fouled for a dramatic reversal in the final seconds! Somehow CMCC was up by three with 15 seconds remaining.
A stunned UC Clermont team had no answer. Crawford could not knock down a potential game-tying three on the other end, and Hebler iced the game with two free throws to send Central Maine off to the semifinals.
Lavigne's sixth 30+ point effort of the season helped mask some of the team's struggles. Eight other Mustangs put up points, but nobody else reached double digits. CMCC shot just 35.7% from the field, including a 4-for-27 mark from beyond the arc. Central Maine also committed 26 turnovers, its second-highest amount since the first semester, but was buoyed by winning the rebound battle 58 to 42.
"The first quarter was pretty rough," said Lavigne after the game. "I was in my head a little bit, but my teammates had my back. Rosa came up to me and was like, 'you got this, trust in yourself,' so that was really helpful for me."
Cincinnati Clermont had similar shooting woes, finishing the game going 25-for-79 from the field. Neither team led by more than eight in what proved to be a close quarterfinal throughout. Tyra Murphy ended with a team-high 18 points, finishing her stellar four years with the Cougars just six shy of 2,000 points for her career. Crawford (15), Scott (12), and McKailia Hatton (10) joined her in double figures.
#2 CMCC now moves on to face #3 Miami University-Hamilton in the semifinals on Friday, March 14th in a rematch from last year's national tournament. The Mustangs and Harriers tip off at 3:15 pm at Villa Maria College.
