A tremendous defensive effort at home and some favorable results on the road added up to a big night for the Muhlenberg women's basketball team.

In their own game, the Mules (10-10, 9-7) held Haverford to 25.4-percent shooting in a 49-38 win to reach double digits in victories for the 30th straight season.

That win, combined with a Washington loss to McDaniel and a Swarthmore loss to Ursinus, put Muhlenberg in stronger position for one of the six Centennial Conference playoff berths. With four games to play in the regular season, the Mules are in fifth place, just a game behind fourth-place Haverford in the loss column and two ahead of both Washington and Swarthmore.

Junior Caroline Horst had the best game of her career against the Fords, setting career highs in points (15) and rebounds (14) for her first career double-double. Graduate student Margaux Eripret also recorded a double-double, the 11th of her career, with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with a career-high 5 assists and 4 steals.

Sophomore Emily Vaughan finished with a career-high 7 assists without a turnover in 30 minutes. Muhlenberg had assists on 18 of its 19 field goals.  

The game was tied 10-10 before the Mules held the Fords (14-8, 12-6) without a point for the final 4:40 of the first quarter. Horst (6) and Eripret (4) combined to score Muhlenberg's first 10 points, and sophomore Megan Winters gave the Mules the lead for good by scoring off a pass from sophomore Jenna Stockfeder with just 10 seconds left in the opening period.

Eripret (pictured above) hit a three off an out-of-bounds play to open the second-quarter scoring. Haverford closed to within 15-12 at the 7:51 mark but was kept off the board for the next five minutes by the Mule defense. Three-pointers by Vaughan and Eripret and a traditional three-point play by Horst made up a 9-0 run that gave Muhlenberg a 24-12 lead.

Haverford never got closer than nine points the rest of the way as the Mules continued to excel on defense. The Fords did not make a field goal for the final five minutes of the third quarter and were held to 22.7-percent shooting in the fourth.

Muhlenberg is now 7-1 at Memorial Hall this season and has two home games remaining against playoff contenders Dickinson and Washington.