Big contributions from the four senior starters helped Muhlenberg women's basketball outlast Ursinus, 76-70, on the road.
 
The senior quartet of Chelsea Gary, Christina Manning, Rachel Plotke and Brandi Vallely scored all but two of Muhlenberg's points, shooting 53.3 percent (24-45) from the floor, 50 percent from three (5-10) and 84 percent from the charity stripe (21-25).
 
The win moves the Mules' record to 9-0 for the sixth time in school history, all of which happened since 2001. Muhlenberg's best start to a season was in 2001-02 when the team began 13-0 in Ron Rohn's first year as head coach. Even more impressive, Muhlenberg is now off to a 6-0 start in Centennial Conference play for the eighth time since 2001.
 
Vallely led the senior group with a game-high 26 points, becoming the 14th player in program history to reach 900 career points. She also contributed seven rebounds and six assists.
 
Gary (pictured above) finished one shy of her career high with 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for her fourth double-double this season. Gary also moved past 500 rebounds for her career (508) in the process.
 
Plotke scored 21 points, her third game with 20-plus points this season. Despite not scoring like her counterparts, Manning contributed great defense on Ursinus's two forwards, dished out three assists and grabbed three rebounds.

Muhlenberg made an early 10-0 run to go up 20-10 in the first period, with Gary starting the streak on a layup. Vallely and Plotke then drilled consecutive three-pointers, and Gary finished the run with a fast-break layup off a Vallely assist. Ursinus battled back to within one before Manning hit a close jumper off an offensive rebound as the period clock expired, making it 23-20.
 
Muhlenberg continued to lead through halftime and the third period, fending off multiple runs from the Bears (5-5, 3-3). Junior Carley Hamilton made the only non-senior points on free throws in the fourth period, stretching the Mules' lead to 66-59.
 
The Bears, however, climbed back to within one with three and a half minutes to go. Muhlenberg's defense tightened up from there on, allowing only one three-pointer the rest of the way while forcing three turnovers. Two more Gary layups and four Plotke free throws helped Muhlenberg close out the game over the final three minutes.

Note: Vallely, Gary and Plotke became only the second trio of Mules to score 20 points in the same game. On Feb. 16, 1991, Felicia Perryman (25), Denise Wunderler (22) and Lonnie Rutman (20) combined on the feat in a 92-74 win at Lebanon Valley.