Box Score

For the first half of the Centennial Conference women's basketball championship game, it looked like Muhlenberg and McDaniel were headed for the same sort of heart-stopping rollercoaster ride that last year's title game was.

The second half was a different story.

The Mules outscored the Green Terror, 48-29, in the second half to run away with their record ninth CC championship, 83-59. The 24-point margin of victory was the largest for the Mules in any of their finals wins and matched the largest in the CC in 14 years. The 83 points set a CC championship game record.

Muhlenberg (24-2) clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will learn its destination in Monday afternoon's selection show.

Sophomore Brandi Vallely was named MVP after scoring 15 points and tying a tournament record with 13 assists in the final. Hers was just one of several outstanding performances against the Green Terror (21-6). Sophomore Rachel Plotke scored a game-high 21 points, senior Christina Santone contributed 20 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, and junior Maggie Zerbe notched a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The Mules recovered from an early 9-2 deficit to take an 18-15 lead after the first quarter. They stretched their lead to 10 late in the first half, but McDaniel scored seven points in less than a minute to close the margin to three. A jumper by sophomore Christina Manning made it 35-30 at halftime.

Twice in the third quarter, Muhlenberg seemed to be pulling away, only to have the Green Terror creep back in, first cutting a nine-point lead to three and then an 11-point spread to six (50-44) with 2:51 left in the period.

That's when the Mules put the hammer down, closing the quarter on a 12-1 run and opening the final stanza with an 18-3 surge. In about nine minutes of game time, Muhlenberg extended its six-point lead to 32.

McDaniel made only one field goal during that stretch and finished the game shooting just 28.6 percent from the field. The Mules, who are second in Division III in field-goal percentage defense, held the CC's leading scorer to six second-half points.

Muhlenberg, on the other hand, shot 55.8 percent from the field - 60.5 percent in the final three quarters. Santone (7-for-10), Zerbe (6-for-7) and sophomore Chelsea Gary (3-for-4) took advantage of the Mules' size differential repeatedly.

Santone set a tournament record with eight blocked shots in two games.