Box Score

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Gettysburg College women's basketball team knew it let a victory slip away when it first met Muhlenberg College on the hardwood in January. On Saturday in Memorial Hall, the outcome wasn't nearly as dramatic as the initial meeting as the Bullets led from start-to-finish and moved into sole possession of first place in the Centennial Conference with an 82-60 victory.

Gettysburg (21-2, 16-2 CC) put some distance between it and Muhlenberg (17-4, 14-3 CC) and McDaniel College (17-6, 15-4 CC), the latter losing to Ursinus College 71-63 on Saturday, in the conference standings with only two games remaining on the regular-season schedule. Four players reached double-figures for the Bullets on Saturday with junior Caitlin Moser posting game-highs of 22 points and 13 rebounds.

Muhlenberg scored with 5.4 seconds left on the clock to pull out a 60-59 victory over Gettysburg on Jan. 14. The Bullets had chances to extend their lead down the stretch in that contest and could have stolen the win with a last-second shot that went awry.

Fifty-six seconds. That's how long it took for Gettysburg to jump in front for the first and last time in Saturday's contest. Senior Courtney Fields, coming off a career-high 29 points against Franklin & Marshall College on Thursday, drained a three-pointer to put the visitors on the board early and the team never looked back.

Muhlenberg, rated 18th in the nation by D3hoops and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), cut the margin to one (11-10) on an Alexandra Chili lay-up at 14:13, but Gettysburg answered right back with the next 13 tallies, including back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Julie McGrory, to push the lead to double-figures.

At the conclusion of the first 20 minutes of action, the visitors held a hefty 39-27 advantage.

If Muhlenberg had any shot of climbing back into the game, it was quickly squashed by Gettysburg as Fields once again jump-started the offense with the initial bucket of the final period. The lead dipped to 10 (41-31) on a jumper by Sheila Cook at 17:51, but that would be the lowest it would get as the Bullets kept on target with McGrory extending the advantage to 20 (56-36) at the 13-minute mark. Gettysburg shot 59.1 percent from the field in the second half and led by as many as 28 in the final minutes.

Muhlenberg was never able to get its offense rolling and wound up making just a third of its field goal attempts, including just 5-of-24 from beyond the arc. The Bullets particularly focused on Chili, the CC's leading scorer, holding her a dozen points below her season average and forcing her into eight turnovers.

While the Mules floundered offensively, Gettysburg was dialed in and put up its second-best shooting performance of the year. The Bullets hit 29-of-53 (54.7 percent) attempts from the field and hit 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) shots from beyond the arc. All but eight of those made shots were the result of a pass as the visitors finished with 21 assists.

Saturday's victory moved the Orange and Blue one step closer to the most wins in school history. The team just passed the 20-win season put up by the 1994-95 squad and now trails only the 22 victories put up by the 1983-84 team.

Moser, who hit up Muhlenberg for 25 points in the first meeting, finished 7-of-10 from the field and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. She was the major force behind Gettysburg's 26-6 scoring advantage in the paint and four of her rebounds came on the offensive glass.

McGrory kept up her recent offensive explosion by topping her career mark for points with 21. She connected on a trio of three-pointers en route to her third 20-point effort of the season, all of which have come in the last two weeks. The Bullets sophomore also added six assists and three steals.

Gettysburg sophomores Lauren Dadigan and Sara Kinsley each chipped in with 10 points and Fields posted nine. Defensive stopper Allie Drechsler finished with a trio of steals and dished out seven assists.

Cook and Kelly McKeon were the only Mules to net more than six points, the former finishing with 10 and the latter a team-high 14.

Gettysburg's two remaining games come against two of its oldest rivals in Dickinson College and McDaniel on Feb. 17 and Feb. 20. The Bullets will battle the Red Devils on Wednesday at 6 p.m. inside Bream Gym. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game as the hosts will be participating in the WBCA's Pink Zone initiative in an effort to help raise breast cancer awareness.