Christina Santone, Muhlenberg
Box Score
Sophomore Brandi Vallely scored eight of her game-high 20 points in the final three minutes as the Muhlenberg women's basketball used a strong finish to defeat St. John Fisher, 81-72, in a thrilling first-round game of the NCAA Tournament.
The 12th-ranked Mules (25-2) advance to play 23rd-ranked Christopher Newport, a 65-47 winner against St. Joseph's (Maine), in the second round with a berth in the "Sweet 16" at stake. The win was the first ever at Memorial Hall for Muhlenberg in an NCAA Tournament game.
Vallely added 13 assists to her 20 points and was one of six Mules in double figures. Sophomore Rachel Plotke scored 15, junior Maggie Zerbe netted a career-high 13 to go along with 12 rebounds and sophomore Christina Manning scored 12. Senior Christina Santone (11 points, four steals) and sophomore Chelsea Gary (10 points, eight rebounds) accounted for the rest of the scoring.
Muhlenberg sprinted out to a 16-4 lead eight minutes into the game, but the Cardinals (22-5) rallied to cut the gap to three, 33-30, at halftime. Three minutes into the second half, they caught up and even took a one-point lead.
A 12-2 run in the last half of the third quarter gave the Mules another double-digit lead, and when Santone (pictured above) converted a pass from Zerbe in the first minute of the fourth quarter, the margin was back up to 12.
Again St. John Fisher came back, going on a 15-4 run to tie the score at 65-all with just under four minutes to play.
Zerbe's layup off one of four assists by Manning put the Mules ahead to stay. It was 69-67 in the final two minutes when Plotke hit her fourth three-pointer of the game - a near carbon copy of the game-clinching three she hit from the same spot in the Centennial Conference semifinal win against Dickinson a week ago.
After Zerbe blocked a shot at the other end, Santone made two free throws to extend the lead to 74-67. Muhlenberg went 7-for-8 from the line down the stretch, allowed only one more basket (an uncontested layup in the final 10 seconds) and did not give up an offensive rebound.
The only negative about the way the Mules closed the game was that Plotke missed a free throw for the first time this season, snapping her school- and CC-record streak of 55 in a row.
Muhlenberg shot 52.0 percent for the game, including 61.5 percent from three-point range, with Plotke going 4-for-6 and Manning hitting on 3-of-5 from long range.
The win evened the Mules' all-time NCAA Tournament record at 9-9. They are one win away from tying the school record of 26 in a season and earning their third trip to the "Sweet 16."
The first game was tied 25-25 at the half, but Christopher Newport (23-4) allowed only six second-half field goals to pull away for the win.