The Muhlenberg women's basketball team outscored McDaniel 14-5 down the stretch to pick up a huge 54-46 home win.

The victory strengthened the Mules' position in the race for the six Centennial Conference playoff spots. With eight games remaining, they are in fifth place, at least two games ahead of the teams seventh place and below and, more importantly, with at least one win against each of them.

Graduate student Margaux Eripret led Muhlenberg (8-9, 7-5) with a 21-point, 9-rebound, 4-block effort, while sophomore Ava Connolly finished with 10 points, 3 assists and no turnovers in 38 minutes. Junior Caroline Horst tied a career high with 10 rebounds.

Sophomore Emily Unger scored 7 of her 9 points in the first four minutes as the Mules sprinted out to a 12-2 lead, which they spent most of the next 26 minutes defending. The Green Terror (6-11, 4-8) was within five at the end of the first quarter, three at halftime and one at the end of the third quarter.

McDaniel finally took the lead - its first since 2-0 - on a three-pointer 11 seconds in the fourth quarter. A three-point play by Horst gave the lead back to the Mules at 40-39, and the teams were tied at 41-all two minutes into the final period. 

With 7:44 left, Unger faked a three and hit a runner in the lane to give Muhlenberg the lead for good. After two defensive stops, Eripret drove in for a layup to make it 45-41.

On the Mules' next possession, Unger drove baseline and whipped a pass to the opposite corner, where sophomore Emily Vaughan redirected the ball to Connolly, who hit an open three from the wing to cap a 7-0 run.

Connolly's three served as the dagger. McDaniel scored on its next trip down the floor but not again until the closing seconds. 

Vaughan (pictured above) finished with a season-high 7 points, including a steal and full-court layup in the third quarter.

Muhlenberg's interior defense limited the Green Terror's leading scorer, who came in averaging 16.1 points per game, to a season-low 4 points on 2-of-9 shooting.