It was a bus ride home like none before for the Muhlenberg women's basketball team.

The Mules (5-0) rolled past host Westfield State, 71-44, to win the championship of the Westfield Gas and Electric Tip-Off Tournament. Although the Mules have won their own Scotty Wood Tournament many times and have won postseason tournaments on the road, they had only won a regular-season tournament on the road one time previously - in the 1985-86 season, when they defeated Moravian and DeSales (then known as Allentown College) to win the Lehigh Valley Tournament.

So this was the first time Muhlenberg ever traveled out of the region for an overnight stay and won a regular-season tournament.

Junior Jenna Stockfeder was named tournament MVP after recording her first career double-double with 10 points and 19 rebounds - the most by a Mule since 2015. Sophomore Avery McNulty also notched her first career double-double in the title game, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Emily Unger led Muhlenberg in scoring in both tournament games, netting 14 in the final.

Playing against a Westfield State team that runs "The System," a combination of pressure defense, frequent substitutions and three-point shooting that the Mules ran at a record level 20 years ago, Muhlenberg did turn the ball over 31 times. But the defense minimized the impact of those turnovers, holding the Owls to 20.5-percent shooting, including just 15.0 percent in the first three quarters. 

Led by Stockfeder, McNulty and senior Caroline Horst (9 rebounds), the Mules also dominated the boards, rolling up a 67-42 advantage.

Westfield made its first three to take a 3-2 lead less than a minute into the game but did not score for almost another five minutes. By then, Muhlenberg was up 10-3 behind three-pointers by Unger and junior Rachel Saxton. 

Although "System" games are notorious for wild point swings, the Mules were never seriously threatened after that. Ahead 18-10 after the first quarter, Muhlenberg held Westfield to one field goal in the first nine-plus minutes of the second quarter, building its advantage to 32-12.

The lead grew to as much as 29 (63-34) on a three by junior Ava Connolly in the fourth quarter.

The two newcomers on the Mule roster, Faith Tucker and Lyndsey Costigan, both scored their first career points.