THE FACTS
Muhlenberg (9-10, 8-6 CC) 59, Gettysburg (12-6, 9-4 CC) 57
What: Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball game
When: Saturday, Jan. 28
Where: Allentown, Pa.
THE SKINNY STORY
Gettysburg erased a 12-point second-half deficit before Muhlenberg got a runner in the final second to break a 57-all deadlock and record a 59-57 home win.
THE LEADERS
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Alayna Arnolie (Vienna, Va./James Madison) led the Bullets, establishing a career best with 21 points that included hitting four 3-pointers.
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Mackenzie Szlosek (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) hit six of her seven shot attempts to finish with 12 points.
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Emily Violante (Easton, Pa./Easton Area) added a double-double with 12 points and season-best 11 rebounds.
FOR THE FOES
• Emily Unger led the Mules with 13 points, including the game-winner.
• Caroline Horst added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• A pair of Emily Vaughn 3-pointers keyed an 11-5 start to the game for Muhlenberg over the game's first four minutes. After Gettysburg closed to within 11-9, three different Mules hit layups to stretch the lead out to 17-9 with 3:09 to play in the opening period. A pair of
Shinya Lee (Rochester, N.Y./Holderness Prep School) baskets in the final minute closed the deficit to 21-19 at the end of 10 minutes.
• Back-to-back triples from Margaux Eripret and Abigail Scheidel turned a 26-24 game into a 32-24 lead with 3:59 remaining in the second quarter. The teams traded mini-runs but an Avery McNulty layup with 37 ticks left gave the hosts a 38-30 lead at the intermission.
• Mia Fitzgerald canned a triple that gave the Mules their largest lead at 46-34 midway through the third period. A pair of
Alayna Arnolie treys helped trim the margin to 48-41 but Megan Winters hit a jumper in the waning seconds of the period to push the lead back to nine.
• Gettysburg got baskets from four different players to start the fourth quarter and held Muhlenberg without a point for the first 6:15 of the final quarter, closing to within 50-49. Caroline Horst halted the drought before two
Emily Violante free throws with 2:49 on the clock once again made it a one-point game. An Arnole wing jumper gave the Bullets their first lead of the game with 2:12 remaining.
Mackenzie Szlosek added a layup 34 seconds later for a three-point lead. Eripret hit the first of two free throws to close the margin to two with 1:17 on the clock.
• After getting a defensive stop, Unger backed home a 3-pointer from top of the arc with 35.8 seconds left for a one-point lead. Vaughn then hit the second of two free throws with 13.1 seconds showing for a two-point lead. Out a timeout, Szlosek drove from the corner and pulled up for a 10-footer in the lane to tie the game with 9.0 seconds remaining. After Muhlenberg advanced the ball with a timeout, the Mules found Unger, who drove off a screen an hit a runner at the free-throw line with 0.8 seconds. Gettysburg had one last chance off an inbounds in the frontcourt but could not hit the shot off a lob into the wing.
THE INSIDE STORY
• The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Bullets, who remained tied for second place in the conference standings in the loss column.
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Shinya Lee recorded a career-best eight blocked shots – the most in a single game by a Gettysburg player since 2001. She now has 62 blocks on the year, which ranks second all-time in program history. Only Cathy Bosma (1989-90) had more in a single season with 87.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action at Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday. Game time is 6 p.m.
