First Round (at Gettysburg): #4 Gettysburg d. #5 McDaniel,
79-71.
Semifinal (at Lancaster): #2 Muhlenberg d. #3 Dickinson,
54-47.
Semifinal (at Lancaster): #4 Gettysburg d. #1 Franklin &
Marshall, 75-70.
Final (at Lancaster): #2 Muhlenberg d. #4 Gettysburg, 80-65.
In a year when Muhlenberg is holding a contest to determine the
top women’s team in its first 50 years of coeducation, the
2008 women’s basketball team took the early lead as the top
squad of the second 50 years.
The Mules defeated Gettysburg, 80-65, at Franklin & Marshall
to win their second Centennial Conference championship in three
years. The victory earns Muhlenberg (21-6) an automatic bid to the
NCAA Division III Championships. Pairings and sites will be
announced Monday morning.
The title was the fourth overall for the Mules, putting them in a
tie with Johns Hopkins for the most in CC history.
A day after being held to 14 first-half points by the denial
defense of Dickinson, Muhlenberg had to be thrilled to see the
Bullets (18-10) look to push the ball at every opportunity.
“The fast pace was definitely to our advantage,” said
senior Michelle Feldman, who hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring
and tied her season high of nine points. “That’s the
way we like to play – up-tempo. Hitting our first few shots
gave us the confidence to keep going.”
Without defenders hanging all over them, the Mules passed the ball
crisply on offense and didn’t rush their shots. The result
was 61.3-percent shooting from the field in the first half and 50
points – 18 more than they scored in the first half of their
last two games combined.
Muhlenberg never trailed in the game, but Gettysburg was hanging
close at 36-31 with 3:25 to go in the half before the Mules closed
it out with a 14-0 run. Sophomores Alexis Bates and Kaitlyn
O’Malley scored five points apiece in the run, while junior
Lauren Boyle did a little bit of everything, contributing two
points, two assists, a rebound and a blocked shot.
The result was never in doubt in the second half, as Muhlenberg
never let its advantage slip below 14 points. The Mules’ 80
points were just two short of the CC title game record, and whereas
the Bullets had two players combine for 53 of their 65 points,
Muhlenberg’s offense was more of a team effort. Boyle scored
22 points, freshman Kelly McKeon added 16, and Feldman and
O’Malley chipped in with nine each. Freshman Sheila Cook
finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
The championship capped a Centennial Conference season that began
under a cloud of doubt when the Mules lost to the same Gettysburg
team in their first league game, back on Nov. 20.
“When we went on that long away stretch, that’s when
we realized how good we could be,” said Feldman, referring
two a span in which Muhlenberg played nine of 11 on the road,
beginning – fittingly – with a win at Gettysburg.
“We beat Hopkins at Hopkins, and we beat Ursinus at Ursinus,
and we beat McDaniel at McDaniel. A light bulb kind of went off
– if you can go on the road and beat those kind of teams,
then we knew we could have a special season.”
A special season that isn’t over just yet.