Maggie Zerbe was so anxious to play her Senior Day game for the Muhlenberg women's basketball team, she ran out to the court when teammate Chelsea Gary was announced in the pregame introductions.

The lone senior on the Mules put on a performance that matched her enthusiasm, scoring 11 points and pulling down five rebounds in a 79-47 win.

The victory was the seventh straight for Muhlenberg (15-6, 12-4), the last three by more than 30 points. Combined with a 56-34 win by Gettysburg against Haverford, it put the Mules into a tie for first place with two weeks remaining in the regular season. Muhlenberg hosts both Haverford (12-4) and Gettysburg (11-4) this week.

Junior Brandi Vallely and sophomore Sara Dilly led four Mules in double figures with 12 points apiece. Vallely added six assists and Dilly six steals (all in the first half). Freshman Emily O'Mahoney made all four of her shots to score a career-high 10 points in only 13 minutes of playing time.

The game was tied 5-5 four minutes in before Muhlenberg shut the Diplomats (8-12, 6-9) down, going on a 25-1 run that encompassed more than 10 minutes of game time. Vallely scored the first seven points of the surge and also contributed three assists, one to Zerbe on a layup that ended the first quarter with the Mules ahead 19-6.

Early in the second quarter, Dilly assisted Gary for a layup that turned into a three-point play, then converted a pass from Zerbe for a three-pointer to make it 29-6. A free throw by freshman Ashley Polera capped the run, giving Muhlenberg a 30-6 lead with 5:35 left in the half.

The Mules led 40-17 at the break, shooting 50 percent from the field and committing only two turnovers. On defense, they forced 13 turnovers and blocked five shots, including three by freshman Caroline Hogg.

The second half was more of the same, with Muhlenberg extending its lead to as much as 35 on a jumper by O'Mahoney late in the third quarter. As they did for the last two games, the Mules rested their starters in the fourth quarter - with the exception of Zerbe, who re-entered briefly and attempted the first three-pointer of her career. It came up ... a little short.

Sophomore Meghan Falk scored a career-high nine points in the fourth, making a trio of three-pointers in a span of a little more than two minutes.

Prior to the game, junior Rachel Plotke received the Aril Bryant Award for "service beyond self." The award is named for the late Aril Bryant, a point guard for Muhlenberg from 2002 to 2005 who passed away from breast cancer in the summer of 2013, but not before devoting considerable time and energy to supporting others with the disease and their families, helping raise thousands of dollars for cancer research and support. 

Among her many activities, Plotke is a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a coed community service fraternity; coordinated Challah for Hunger to raise money for the national non-profit organization Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger; and served as a volunteer for the Behavioral Health Advisory Council at Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital.