Box Score

The defensive formula for the Muhlenberg women's basketball team has been simple this year: Hold teams under 50 points and win, give up more than 60 and lose.

And for the start of the Mules' game at Lehigh Valley rival DeSales, the offensive formula was simple: Get the ball to Erin Laney.

The junior forward scored Muhlenberg's first 10 points of the game and finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds for her first career double-double, leading the Mules to a 59-48 win.

Senior Kate Clawson added 15 points, all in the second half, and senior Alita Zabrecky finished with 10 as Muhlenberg defeated the Bulldogs for the fourth time in five years.

Although the final margin was in double digits, a first for the Mules (4-2) against DeSales (3-3) in 11 years, it was a typically intense, hard-fought game between the two teams.

Almost eight minutes into the game, the score was DeSales 12, Laney 10. Then the Mules went on a 12-0 run, holding the Bulldogs without a field goal for a span of nearly 12 minutes, to take the lead for good. Laney scored four more points in the run, topping her previous career high of 11 points with 11:35 left in the first half.

Muhlenberg took a 26-17 lead into the locker room after Zabrecky beat the shot clock with a baseline drive in the final minute of the half.

The Mules extended their advantage to double digits when junior Leeann Lanza hit a jumper on the first possession of the second half, but DeSales responded with a 12-2 run to cut the gap to one.

Clawson hit three three-pointers and scored 13 points in a six-minute stretch to help Muhlenberg build its lead back up to as many as 16 points.

Again the Bulldogs came back, drawing to within five points at the three-minute mark. They took four shots with a chance to cut it to a one-possession game, but missed all four. After the last one, Zabrecky hustled into the corner after the rebound, and with her back to the court, flipped the ball over her head to a teammate while jumping out of bounds.

The Mules went 6-for-6 from the line in the final minute to ice the win.

For the game, DeSales shot just 25.4 percent from the field. In the Mules' four wins this season, they have held their opponents to 44, 46, 44 and 48 points.

pictured above: Hannah Rush