The Muhlenberg women's basketball team rallied late and grinded to a 69-64 overtime road victory at Johns Hopkins.
 
Trailing by three with 27 seconds left, the 22nd-ranked Mules (7-0, 4-0 CC) missed their first chance to tie, but junior Carley Hamilton grabbed the offensive rebound. After a timeout, senior Rachel Plotke drained the tying three-point shot from the wing with six seconds left. The defense prevented any chance for the Blue Jays to win in regulation, forcing the extra period.
 
Hopkins scored to start overtime, but two free throws from senior Brandi Vallely tied the game at 59-59 on the next possession. Senior Chelsea Gary then made a big free throw with 2:33 left to give Muhlenberg the lead, and Gary finished a layup off a Vallely assist on the next trip down the floor to make it 62-59.
 
The defense then pressured Hopkins into another missed shot, and Gary sank a jumper near the baseline off an inbounds play. Vallely then made five free throws in the final minute to help the Mules close out the victory.
 
Including the game-tying triple, Plotke (pictured above) made five threes and finished with a season-high 22 points to lead the Mules. Vallely finished one rebound shy of a triple-double, recording 16 points (including seven in overtime), 10 assists and nine rebounds. Gary also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds to go with three blocks.
 
Hamilton collected a career-high 14 rebounds, including two critical offensive boards with just under two minutes in regulation and her team trailing 52-51. Hamilton then drained a jumper for two of her eight points to put the Mules up one, but Hopkins came back with a three-pointer to retake the lead and set up the late-game dramatics.
 
Senior Christina Manning added nine points and eight rebounds.
 
The Mules started the game on a roll, going up 13-5 on a Gary layup halfway through the first period. The Blue Jays, however, battled back to tie the game by the end of the period.
 
Muhlenberg established leads in each of the subsequent periods, but Hopkins continued to keep the game close, forcing six more ties. The lead changed 14 times throughout the contest, and Hopkins never led by more than its three-point advantage in the closing seconds.
 
The Mules are off to their fourth 7-0 start this decade, going on to win the Centennial Conference championship in each of the previous three seasons.