BUFFALO, N.Y — Central Maine Community College’s bid for a fourth United States Collegiate Athletic Association women’s basketball championship in eight seasons ended Friday afternoon with a 70-57 loss to Miami-Hamilton in a Division II semifinal.

CMCC (29-2) fell behind 21-10 in the first quarter, then cut the deficit to four points in the second quarter before Miami-Hamilton (19-10) pulled away for good.

Mustangs coach Andrew Morong said his team may not have been prepared Miami-Hamilton because of a lack of stiff competition in the regular season.

“(Miami-Hamilton’s) athletic, long, fast and very deep,” Morong said. “They were able to hold us accountable in ways that our conference opponents could not, and I think that really caught up with us tonight. They jumped out to a big lead early on, and we fought back, and then they jumped out to another big lead and we fought back. We just spent all of our energy fighting back; we just couldn’t quite get over the hump.”

Ella Lavigne finished with 23 points, six rebounds and two steals for CMCC. Morong said her effort all season, prevailing through numerous injuries, is something that kept the team going.

“No matter how many individual awards Ella racks up, it’s just not enough,” Morong said. “She is a relentless human being, she’s been playing injured all year, and she has not played a single game at 100 percent. That just never stopped her from being one of the hardest workers on the floor.”

For Miami-Hamilton, A’Vyonna Kinsey led the way with 23 points, seven steals and nine rebounds. Beri Ngwa and Kirsten Cross also scored in double figures.

Turnovers and rebounding were big factors in CMCC’s elimination, according to Morong.

“We’re not going to win many games when you’re averaging that many turnovers, and I think that’s on me for not prepping the team to face that level of speed and quickness, and also just a lack of accountability from within our conference and other teams being able to hold us accountable during the regular season that caught up with us,” Morong said.

In addition to Lavigne, fourth-year player Chantel Ouellette and second-year player Riley Hebler will not return to the Mustangs program next year. Morong called Ouellette and Hebler “the two toughest players to ever wear CMCC uniforms.”

CMCC got big contributions Friday from two first-year players. Jenny Chaput had 10 points and six rebounds, and Ava Smith recorded six points and 11 rebounds.

“This offseason is going to dictate their success as individuals, and probably our entire team,” Morong said. “It’s really going to depend on the skill development that we work on them with over the next couple of months, and them getting in the weight room, but I think those two could absolutely be dominant next year.”

The Mustangs played without second-year guard Zoe Bedford, who was out because of a torn ACL, and first-year guard Hunter Hasgrove, who has a stress fracture. Having both players on the court could’ve made a difference, Morong said.