AUBURN — Central Maine Community College dominated the glass in its 58-45 women’s basketball victory over Plymouth State on Tuesday night.

The Mustangs pulled down 47 rebounds to the Panthers’ 29.

“I don’t think we have been out-rebounded the past two years,” CMCC coach Andrew Morong said. “We have girls like Kali Thompson, Jade Smedberg and Destiny (Mora Lopez) — even Emily (Strachan) from the guard position. They are relentless rebounders.”

Thompson, who is from Waterville, grabbed eight boards for Central Maine, while Mora Lopez and Smedberg, a former Oxford Hills standout, each had seven rebounds.

“They weren’t really scoring, which we needed them to do,” Morong said. “They weren’t scoring; they weren’t hitting their shots — you can always go in there and get a rebound. To us, rebounding is a choice. It’s an effort thing. It doesn’t take a lot of skill. We say, ‘Hey if shots aren’t falling, find a positive impact on the game.”

Mora Lopez had eight points, while Thompson had six points and Smedberg finished with two.

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Lewiston’s Emily Strachan led the Mustangs with 17 points.

The Mustangs (9-0) got off to a quick start in the first quarter, building a 9-2 lead in the first three and half minutes. Stratchan scored five of those points.

“Once we get going in the beginning and get a few quick baskets, we really do well after that,” Strachan said.

Plymouth State (2-2) calmed things down with a Sophie George 3-pointer that cut the deficit to 9-5. George led Plymouth St. with 16 points in the game.

Panthers’ coach Leah Swanson said they tried to slow the game down as much as possible and not get in a track meet with the Mustangs.

“Our plan was to play our game and not theirs,” Swanson said. “Obviously, we had moments where we did our game and we played into theirs as well.”

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Jalen Cook’s layup for the Panthers tied the game at 10-10 with four minutes remaining in the first, but Central Maine finished the quarter with a 6-1 run to take a 16-11 lead.

Cook finished the game with nine points and was one of seven Panthers who scored. The game didn’t count for Plymouth State in the regular-season standings since they are an NCAA Division III school that plays in the Little East Conference.

Swanson said the Panthers gave more time to the bench players Tuesday night.

“This a perfect game to see who can step up and fill the shoes we won’t have next year, as well,” Swanson said. “It’s taking what we do in practice and putting it into a game (situation).”

The Panthers have six seniors on the roster.

The game does count for Central Maine, which plays in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association and is a member of the Yankee Small College Conference.

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Strachan and George each made a two-point basket early in the second quarter, then Mikenzie Melendez’s layup and a foul shot put Central Maine on top 21-13 with 7:58 remaining.

Both teams went cold for a four-minute stretch, during which the Panthers went 0-for-8 from the field and missed a couple of foul shots. The Mustangs, meanwhile, were 0-for-2 from the field and had two turnovers.

“That was a crazy stretch,” Morong said. “We held them (to two points) for the first six minutes of the quarter, but we couldn’t pull away because we couldn’t hit a shot in return.”

A Ja’Naia Moran floater ended the drought and gave the Mustangs a 23-13 lead with 3:53 remaining in the second quarter, but Plymouth State went on a 9-2 run to end the first half, with Cook dropping in five of those points, and Central Maine’s lead was down to 25-22 at the half.

The Mustangs used the 3 to rebuild their lead in the third. Luna Love’s trey gave the Mustangs a 30-24 lead. Later in the quarter, Clara Bandh’s shot from beyond the arc stretched the advantage to 35-26.

The Mustangs opened the fourth with a 40-33 lead and quickly doubled it with an 11-4 run to go up 51-37. Strachan scored six of those points.

“I guess so,” Strachan said of scoring in bunches. “I guess that always happens. I guess after one (bucket), I am on go (mode).”

The teams played even the remainder of the game, scoring eight points apiece.

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