The Muhlenberg women's basketball team fell to Franklin & Marshall, 60-56, in its first home game in more than a month.

The Mules (8-5, 3-5) treated the hundreds of schoolchildren in attendance to a thrilling game, coming back from eight down in the third quarter to set the stage for a tense final period.

Junior Rachel Saxton scored a career-high 22 points, while junior Ava Connolly added 13 to go along with 7 assists. Sophomore Avery McNulty had one of the best games of her career, finishing with 8 points and 8 rebounds.

The Diplomats (7-5, 2-5) led 36-28 in the second minute of the second half before Muhlenberg stormed back with a 10-2 run, capped by back-to-back threes by Avery (McNulty) and Ava (Connolly), to tie game at 38-all.

From then on, the contest was tied at 41, 44 and 47 in the third quarter and at 48, 50, 54, and 56 in the fourth. 

The final deadlock came on a pair of free throws by Connolly (pictured above) with 2:57 remaining, but the Mules did not score again. Trailing 59-56 with under 10 seconds on the clock, they got a good look at a tying three, but it was off the mark.

Muhlenberg trailed by as many as seven points (20-13) in the high-scoring first quarter and was down four at halftime before going 5-for-6 from three-point range in the third quarter.

Saxton scored in double figures for the fifth straight game and topped her previous career high of 16, achieved three times previously.