Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. – Muhlenberg College canned 50 percent of its shot attempts, including over 60 percent in the opening half, to pull out an 80-65 victory over the Gettysburg College women's basketball team, spoiling the Bullets' first appearance in the Centennial Conference title game hosted by Franklin & Marshall College at the Mayser Center. The loss ruined an otherwise outstanding tournament for Bullet freshman forward Caitlin Moser (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing), who topped her career-high for the second day in a row with a game-high 30 points.

Muhlenberg (21-6) captured its fourth Centennial championship and earned the conference's automatic bid to compete in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Gettysburg reached the tournament finale for the first time in school history with wins in the first round over McDaniel College (79-71) and in the semifinals against Franklin & Marshall (75-70) and the Bullets tied their best season record since 1994-95, finishing with an 18-10 overall mark.

The opening period was tightly contested, though the Mules held the advantage the entire way. Muhlenberg's lead grew to 16-8 on a Kelly McKeon lay-up just over five minutes in, but Gettysburg jumped back in the game with an 8-0 run, capped by six straight points by sophomore Courtney Fields (Baltimore, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls). That would be the only tie in the contest as the Mule lead steadily grew to 10 (34-24) with 5:18 to go in the first.

The Bullets appeared to making a run by trimming the deficit down to five twice around the four-minute mark, the last coming on a lay-up by Moser at 3:25 which made it 36-31. Unfortunately for the Orange & Blue, Muhlenberg was just warming up and reeled off a 14-0 run before the half, halted only by a fair of free throws by Moser with four seconds left. The Mules finished 19-of-30 (.613) in the opening period and went into the locker room with a comfortable 17-point lead (50-33).

Muhlenberg cooled off in the final period, but Gettysburg was unable to make any kind of a run. The Mules led by as many as 23 in the final period before Fields and Moser took control, trimming the margin down to 14 with 2:05 to play. The Bullet duo scored each of the final 24 points for the team, but Muhlenberg held steady down the stretch to earn the 15-point win.

Moser finished 10-of-21 from the field and 10-of-11 from the free throw line to top her career high of 28 set on Saturday against Franklin & Marshall. She was one point off the school's game record for a first-year, achieved by Jennifer Bengel '06 against Dickinson on Feb. 22, 2003. In three CC Tournament games, Moser averaged 25.7 points and 10 rebounds, while shooting 57.1 percent (28-of-49) from the floor and 80.8 percent (21-of-26) from the free throw line. Fields added a season-high 23 points, finishing 8-of-15 from the field, including a game-high four three-pointers, and 3-of-3 from the line. Both players pulled down a team-high seven boards.

Sophomore Allie Drechsler (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) finished with four points, four rebounds, and three assists, while sophomore Nicole Dobranski (Albertson, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) tallied four boards and three points for the Bullets. Gettysburg finished just 23-of-66 (.348) from the floor, but managed a season-best 15-of-17 from the free throw line (.882).

Muhlenberg was led by Lauren Boyle, who finished 8-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe for 22 points. Kelly McKeon added 16 points, while Michelle Feldman and Kaitlyn O'Malley each tallied nine. The Mules received 22 points from their bench compared to just six by the Bullet reserves.