The Muhlenberg women's basketball team came back from a nine-point deficit to take a last-minute lead before falling at Franklin & Marshall, 56-52.

The game was a key Centennial Conference matchup of two teams who entered the night tied for seventh place, one spot out of the final playoff berth. The Mules (14-8, 5-7) are now in eighth place with all three of their remaining games against teams ahead of them in the standings.

Playing without its top two scorers, Muhlenberg netted more points than the Diplomats (15-8, 6-6) in the first, second and fourth quarters but was outscored 17-4 in the third, and that proved to be the difference in the game.

F&M led, 48-39, with just over six minutes to go before the Mules went on a 13-3 run to take the lead. Senior Megan Winters scored the first four points of the run, and senior Emily Unger made a three-pointer with 1:34 left to make it 51-50.

After a Diplomat miss, sophomore Lyndsey Costigan grabbed the defensive rebound, and after a Muhlenberg miss, she pulled down the offensive rebound and laid it back in to put the Mules in front, 52-51, with 56.5 seconds to play.

F&M responded by driving in for what proved to be the winning basket with 42.4 ticks showing, then made three free throws after Muhlenberg missed shots to put the game away.

Senior Ava Connolly (pictured above) led the Mules with 18 points and also pulled down 8 rebounds. Senior Rachel Saxton added 14 points, while Costigan pulled down 12 rebounds, one off her career high.