The stingiest defense in NCAA women's basketball came to the fore in the second half as Muhlenberg remained undefeated with a 55-33 home win against Swarthmore.

The Mules (8-0, 5-0) had what had been an 11-point lead cut to four, 33-29, when the Garnet (2-7, 1-5) made a layup with 5:57 left in the third quarter.

The defense shut the door after that, allowing only one more field goal - a three-pointer with 11 seconds left in the game. Swarthmore scored just one point in a span of nearly 16 minutes and was almost shut out in the fourth quarter.

Muhlenberg came into the game leading the more than 1,000 schools in the three NCAA divisions in scoring defense, allowing 41.1 points per game, and lowered its average to 40.1 with its effort against the Garnet.

Leading the defense was senior Sara Dilly, who recorded a career-high 7 steals and also blocked a pair of shots.

Senior Carley Hamilton was the only Mule in double figures, with 11 points, while junior Madison Kirchofer finished with 7 points and 6 rebounds to go along with 2 blocked shots.

Muhlenberg opened the game by not allowing a field goal for more than five minutes, jumping out to a 13-2 lead on a three-pointer by junior Emily O'Mahoney. Swarthmore, which was 6-for-45 from the field in the other three quarters, shot 54.5 percent in the second quarter to whittle away at the lead.

O'Mahoney (pictured above) assisted on the first two baskets of the fourth quarter, three-pointers by freshman Tara Szawaluk and junior Emilie Benton, to help the Mules build their lead back up.