Senior Rachel Plotke hit five three-pointers, one of which pushed her over 1,000 career points, in Muhlenberg women's basketball's 71-41 victory over Swarthmore.
 
Late in the first period, Plotke drained her first deep ball of the night to get to 998 career points. After a Swarthmore free throw, Plotke sank another three off an assist from fellow 1,000-point scorer Brandi Vallely to pass the career milestone, becoming the 12th Mule to reach 1,000 points. Plotke made three more triples in the second period and finished with 17 points to lead all scorers.
 
The win provided the 18th-ranked Mules with a 19-1 start, their best 20-game stretch to start a season. It is also only the second time in College athletic history a team has started 19-1, matching the 1944-45 men's basketball team.
 
Muhlenberg also improved to 14-1 in the Centennial Conference and clinched a berth in the CC playoffs for the 24th time in 25 years.
 
Senior Chelsea Gary also reached double figures with 11 points to go with six rebounds. Vallely finished with eight points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Senior Christina Manning and sophomore Emily O'Mahoney each chipped in seven points, and sophomore Caroline Hogg blocked three shots and grabbed five rebounds.
 
A Vallely layup midway through the first period gave the Mules their first lead at 5-4. Junior Carley Hamilton extended the advantage with a layup before a Garnet (3-16, 1-13 CC) free throw. The Mules then scored 10 of the next 11 points, going up 17-6 on Plotke's milestone three-pointer.
 
The Mules built their lead up to 20 on a layup by junior Sara Dilly and took a 38-16 advantage into halftime. Muhlenberg cruised through the second half, never letting the lead dip below 23 points the rest of the way.
 
The Mules, who came into the night with the 12th-best field goal percentage defense in Division III, held Swarthmore to 18 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from deep.