Box Score

Senior Christina Santone scored a career-high 18 points as the Muhlenberg women's basketball overcame an early 10-point deficit to defeat McDaniel, 58-54, avenging its lone loss of the season.

The win puts the 12th-ranked Mules (15-1, 9-1) in sole possession of first place in the Centennial Conference for the first time this year. The Green Terror (15-4, 10-2) fell to second, and every other team has at least four losses.

Sophomores Rachel Plotke and Brandi Vallely contributed 16 points apiece, with Vallely adding seven assists, nine rebounds and three steals.

Plotke was 3-for-5 from three-point range, and her rare four-point play on a three plus foul with 7:54 left in the second quarter put Muhlenberg ahead, 25-21. The Mules, who trailed 18-8 early on before going on a 9-0 run behind six points from Santone, never trailed the rest of the way. It was hardly a comfortable ride, though, as the rivals fought hard in a game that ended in the same result - a four-point Muhlenberg win - as the last time the teams met in Westminster, in the 2015 CC championship game.

The Mules led 35-34 at halftime and took their biggest lead, 45-37, with 3:27 left in the third on a layup by Plotke. The lead seesawed between three and six points for most of the remainder of the game. Down 53-50, McDaniel had three possessions with a chance to tie the game, but Muhlenberg came up with a stop each time.

Santone's putback made it 55-50 with 2:40 remaining, and it remained so until there was 1:29 showing on the clock, when a Green Terror player was fouled while shooting a three-pointer. She made the first two and missed the third, but McDaniel got the offensive rebound and a chance for a five-point tying possession. Vallely came up with a big steal, however, and made two free throws with 38 ticks on the clock to extend the lead to 57-52.

The Green Terror had one more chance after making a layup and forcing a turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass, but another steal, this one by sophomore Christina Manning, gave the ball back to the Mules. Vallely made a clinching free throw with 8.8 seconds left for the final margin of victory.

Santone (pictured above) was 8-for-14 from the field in topping her previous career best of 16 points.

Muhlenberg held McDaniel to 20 second-half points and 26.8-percent shooting and outrebounded the Green Terror, 46-44. Junior Maggie Zerbe pulled down a career-high 13 boards, and sophomore Chelsea Gary blocked three shots to go along with six points and seven rebounds.