A valiant second-half effort from the Muhlenberg women's basketball team was not enough to overcome a first-half deficit as the team fell at home to McDaniel 60-46.
 
The Mules (8-6, 6-4 CC) could not get going in the first 20 minutes but found their stride coming out of the halftime break and brought the game to within five points midway through the fourth period.  The Green Terror (7-7, 5-4 CC) closed the game however on a 15-6 run to earn the win.
 
Junior Brandi Vallely recorded her second double-double this season and the 13th of her career, leading the Mules with 12 points and 10 rebounds along with six steals and two assists. Junior Chelsea Gary finished close to a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds to go with nine points.
 
Muhlenberg scored the first six points of the second half, starting with a floater in the lane from junior Rachel Plotke. Vallely then forced a turnover and took the stolen ball in for a layup.
 
The Mules dropped the lead down to 10 when freshman Ashley Polera whipped a one-handed pass to her left to find an open Emilie Benton, who nailed the three-pointer to make it 34-24. Back-to-back layups from Vallely cut the deficit to seven, but McDaniel rebounded to take a 43-33 lead into the final period.
 
Polera started Muhlenberg's push in the fourth quarter with a driving right-handed layup. Senior Maggie Zerbe then collected a steal on defense before handing off a pass to freshman JulieAnne Martin, who hit the open triple to make it 45-38.
 
Zerbe kept the momentum in the Mules' favor with a turnaround jumper dropping the margin to five. Muhlenberg could not gain any more ground however, with McDaniel eventually scoring the final eight points of the game on free throws.
 
Zerbe and junior Sara Dilly each collected six rebounds and led the Mules with three assists apiece. Martin scored six points in 15 minutes off the bench.
 
The Mules won the turnover battle, forcing McDaniel into 20 mistakes compared to the Mules' 15. The Mules also collected 12 steals as a team and scored 14 points off McDaniel turnovers.