Box Score

Sophomore Christina Manning led five players in double figures with a career-high 25 points as the 21st-ranked Muhlenberg women's basketball team outscored Gettysburg, 81-72, for its sixth straight win to open the season.

Sophomore Rachel Plotke scored 17 points, senior Christina Santone netted 13 to go along with a team-high nine rebounds, and sophomore Chelsea Gary recorded 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

Sophomore Brandi Vallely notched a double-double with 11 points and 15 assists - tying the school and Centennial Conference record for assists in a game, which she set in the season-opening game at Moravian.

For the first time since that three-point win against Moravian, the Mules (6-0, 3-0) were pushed, both early and late. Gettysburg (3-2, 1-2) made three of its first four shots in opening the game with a 10-2 run, forcing a timeout. Muhlenberg rallied behind seven points from Manning to tie the game at 15 by the end of the quarter.

The Mules opened the second quarter on a 13-1 run, holding the Bullets without a field goal for 5:30, to build a 12-point lead. Vallely fueled the run with two points, three assists and a pair of steals that led directly to baskets.

Muhlenberg led 44-34 at the half on the strength of 50-percent shooting from the field against a Gettysburg squad that was holding its opponents under 30-percent shooting for the season. The Bullets, in fact, finished in the top two in Division III in field-goal percentage defense two of the last three years and had not allowed 80 points in a CC game since the 2009-10 season.

The Mules maintained a lead of between seven and 14 points for most of the second half until Gettysburg closed to within five, at 68-63, with 4:49 remaining. After the teams traded two-point possessions, Manning - to that point held to two points in the second half - made huge back-to-back three-pointers, one off a pass out of the post by Santone and the other in transition off a pass from Vallely, to extend the lead to 11.

Gettysburg got within six points twice in the final minute, but four free throws by Plotke and one by Vallely secured the win.

With a 6-0 record, Muhlenberg has tied the seventh-fastest start in program history.