An early-season showdown between two of the top women's basketball teams in the Centennial Conference lived up to its billing, with Muhlenberg coming back from a four-point halftime deficit to defeat Haverford, 53-51.

The Fords (6-2, 3-1), who won the CC regular-season title last year, came in with 17 wins in their last 19 CC games, while the Mules (8-0, 5-0), the three-time defending CC champions, had won 15 of their previous 16 against CC opponents, with the lone loss coming at home to Haverford in February.

Senior Brandi Vallely scored a game-high 19 points, including 7 in the fourth quarter, and added 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Seniors Chelsea Gary and Rachel Plotke added 11 apiece, with Gary blocking 5 shots.

Haverford erased the biggest lead either team enjoyed in the game with a 9-0 run that ended two minutes into the fourth quarter and tied the game at 39. On the next possession, Vallely (pictured above) hit a three-pointer to put the 19th-ranked Mules ahead to stay. 

Four free throws by Gary and a three-point play by junior Carley Hamilton (7 points, 13 rebounds) ran the lead back up to seven, at 49-42, with three minutes to play. Haverford did not go away, however, cutting the lead to one, 52-51, on a three-pointer with 40.7 seconds remaining. 

The Mules were forced into a rushed three at the other end, and the Fords got the ball back with 9.5 ticks on the clock and a chance to win. They passed inside to their All-CC post player, but good defense by Gary forced a traveling call. Vallely added a free throw with three-tenths of a second remaining for the final margin.

Muhlenberg, which is 8-0 for the fourth time in the last eight years, held Haverford to 28.1-percent shooting for the game.

Plotke went 3-for-5 from three-point range, with two of her treys coming in an 11-1 third-quarter run that gave the Mules their nine-point advantage.