Box Score

The Muhlenberg women's basketball played strong second-half defense to rally from a one-point halftime deficit and defeat Dickinson, 64-56, in a Centennial Conference semifinal game.

The Mules (23-2) advance to the championship game for the eighth time in the last 11 years and the 13th time in the 23-year history of the league. They will face McDaniel, a 79-62 winner against Gettysburg in the other semi.

Muhlenberg and McDaniel have met in the final twice before, in 2010 and 2015, with the road team winning each time. The visiting team also won both regular-season matches this year.

Sophomore Brandi Vallely led Muhlenberg with 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the semifinal win. Senior Christina Santone notched her fourth double-double in the last five games with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Rachel Plotke scored 13 points and junior Maggie Zerbe added 10.

The Red Devils (16-10) made four three-pointers in the first quarter to take a 23-17 lead. Muhlenberg came back to reclaim the lead on Vallely's steal and layup with a minute left in the half, but Dickinson scored in the final seconds to take a 33-32 lead into the locker room.

Zerbe's layup off a pass from sophomore Christina Manning on the first possession of the second half put the Mules back on top, 34-33. They would never trail again but had trouble shaking the Red Devils.

A three-point play by Vallely with 40.9 seconds left in the third quarter gave Muhlenberg its biggest lead to that point, 50-43. The Red Devils scored the first four points of the final period, however, to make it 50-47.

After a timeout, Plotke hit a three-pointer to double the lead. Dickinson made only three field goals, one of which came with 20 seconds left and the game already decided, in the final eight minutes.

Plotke provided the dagger when she was left all alone on the wing and swished a three-pointer with 1:15 left to put Muhlenberg up 64-53 - the only double-digit lead for either team in the game.

The Mules, who entered the game second in Division III in field-goal percentage defense, held Dickinson to 28.6-percent shooting for the game and just 23.5 percent in the second half.

Santone complemented her double-double with four blocked shots. Manning finished with eight rebounds and four assists.

The second semifinal also was a one-point game at halftime, with Gettysburg holding a 36-35 edge. McDaniel scored 44 second-half points to pull away for the win.