Central Maine Community College survived a nightmarish first half of shooting and held off a late charge from Johnson & Wales Charlotte to win 79-63 in the USCAA Division II national tournament in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on Monday.

The second-seeded Mustangs (26-3), the defending national champions, advanced to the semifinal, which will be played at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. They will face No. 3 Villa Maria (19-5), which earlier in the day defeated No. 6 UMaine-Machias, 79-61. CMCC beat Villa Maria in last year’s national championship game, 85-78.

Makenzie Beadry led the Mustangs with 17 points and six rebounds off the bench, while Kristen Huntress added 13 points and Eliza Brault chipped in with 11 points, 10 rebounds and six steals.

Micah Thomas led the Wildcats (12-13) with 14 points and nine rebounds.

CMCC shot 0-for-15 from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half and had just one field goal in the first 5:09 of the game, yet they never trailed after Natalie Thurber made two free throws to give the Mustangs a 3-2 lead.

Beaudry and Alyssa Everett couldn’t miss, though, combining to shoot 5-for-5 and scoring six points apiece in the quarter to stake the Mustangs to a 21-10 lead.

Fourteen Wildcat turnovers and nine points from Beaudry in the second quarter helped the Mustangs add to their lead, which was up to 40-28 at halftime. The Mustangs forced 45 turnovers for the game while committing 23 of their own.

The Wildcats closed to within six at 40-34 less than a minute into the second half, but Thurber hit the Mustangs’ first 3-pointer of the game to spark a 15-5 CMCC run that eventually led to a 55-47 lead heading into the fourth.

Johnson & Wales rallied again to trim the margin to 62-58 on Thomas’ layup with 5:04 remaining. But the Mustangs held the Wildcats scoreless for more than two minutes and got two free throws from Brault, a 3-pointer from Huntress and a steal and layup for a three-point play from Brault to make it 70-58 with 3:20 to go.

Southern Maine Community College also advanced to the semifinals with a 66-41 win over Cincinnati-Clermont. Ashleigh Mathisen, Amanda Brett and Elise Hebert led the Seawolves with 11 points apiece, while Edward Little alum Grace Fontaine added five points. SMCC (24-6), the No. 5 seed, will face top-seeded Penn State Beaver at 1 p.m.

Monmouth Academy alum Abbey Allen scored eight points for UMaine-Machias in its loss to Villa Maria.