The last gameday of 2017 was a Sweet 16 for the Muhlenberg women's basketball team.

After moving up to No. 16 in the D3hoops.com poll, the Mules got 16 points apiece from seniors Chelsea Gary and Rachel Plotke and a career-high 16 rebounds from junior Carley Hamilton in a hard-fought 55-47 win at DeSales.

The most important number, however, was 11, as Muhlenberg won its 11th straight game to open the season. The Mules tied for the third-best start in program history and will enjoy their undefeated record for at least two more weeks before returning to action in 2018.

Gary added 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season and also blocked three shots. Senior Brandi Vallely also finished with a double-double (12 points, 13 assists). She now has 565 career assists, just five short of the all-time Centennial Conference record. 

Muhlenberg won the "Lehigh Valley championship" for the second time in three years, beating both Moravian and DeSales on the road.

The Bulldogs (5-4) led for most of the first quarter, which ended with the score tied at 16. The Mules took command in the second quarter, holding to DeSales to one field goal, which came in the final minute. 

Muhlenberg opened up a double-digit lead by scoring the first 11 points of the quarter, including five by Plotke, who extended her streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 18.

DeSales closed to within three early in the third quarter, but Vallely recorded six assists in the quarter and finished it off with a drive to the basket for a layup in the closing seconds, giving the Mules their largest lead at 45-32.

The lead was 13 again with 2:37 left, more than enough for Muhlenberg to withstand a late run by the Bulldogs.

The Mules, who entered the game 27th in Division III in field-goal percentage defense, held DeSales to 28.8-percent shooting.

Senior Christina Manning (pictured above) finished with six points and six rebounds.