Box Score

The Centennial Conference is in its 22nd year of operation.

Muhlenberg women's basketball has qualified for the playoffs in 21 of those 22 seasons, clinching yet another playoff berth with a 66-53 win over defending CC champion Haverford.

"That's one of the reasons why I came here," junior center Christina Santone said about the success of Muhlenberg's program. "I was so excited to be a part of that and I knew that's what would happen the next four years."

A loss to McDaniel on Saturday snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Mule women, but early on it was evident that was put way in the past. After giving up a three to start the game, the Mules (13-6, 12-3) ripped off a 12-0 run to take an early nine-point lead.

"Tonight we wanted to come back out and start a new winning streak. With this team we come together and we know what we need to do. McDaniel was in the past. We just wanted to get back on our streak, hit our shots and bury them early," Santone said.                       

Leanna Tallamy led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds, but in the first half it was the shooting of Nicole Pepe (pictured above) that got Muhlenberg rolling. The senior hit four threes in the first and finished with 15 points.

"We have all the confidence in Pepe. I can watch her shoot and I just know it's going in. It's great having her out on the perimeter. She's so great at hitting her shot," Santone said.

Santone (pictured left) used her 76-inch wingspan to grab 11 rebounds to go with 14 points. The double-double was her third of the year, and she also had four assists, a block and a steal.

Out of the half, Muhlenberg stretched its lead to as much as 16, with an 18-6 run that made it 50-34 with 13:29 to play. The pace of the game lent itself to the Mules' uptempo style of play, and they shared the ball well, assisting on 21 of their 27 made baskets.

Although Muhlenberg held a double-digit lead for a long stretch of the second half, the Fords (12-8, 10-3) cut it to eight with five minutes to go. A sequence that showed Muhlenberg's impressive hustle got it back to double digits. Laura Gregory (six points, six rebounds) got her own miss and kicked out to Pepe, who rebounded her own miss and dumped it to Gregory for a layup. The fight the Mules showed on that play to keep the possession alive was what sealed the key CC win.

Muhlenberg wanted to avenge a 61-40 victory at the hands of the Fords back on November 25. In that one, the Mules scored only 14 points in the first half. They scored that in six minutes this time, and the 32 they had the half took them more than 36 minutes back in November.

 "We're a new team this year and we're not letting anything from last year affect us at all," Santone said.