The Muhlenberg Weekly

Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: Sports

After the tough loss to Washington, the Mules traveled west to Dickinson to take on the Red Devils who also had two losses on the year. The winner of the game would stand alone in second place behind McDaniel. The Mules put together a solid defensive performance only allowing 49 points and holding the Red Devils to 30% shooting. However, their defensive effort was outmatched by that of the Red Devils who held the Mules to 23.7% shooting highlighted by sophomore Lauren Boyle's two for 22 shooting performance. This seemed to be the first time in Boyle's college career that scoring has been hard to come by. However, her solid defense and good team play does not seem to be affected by the scoring troubles. The Mules were able to get as close as four and did hold Dickinson to only five second half field goals. However, the Red Devils proved victorious 49-34. The Mules were led in scoring by senior Meghan Courtney who scored 11 points and recorded four blocks in a game dominated by defense.

After being handed their third loss of the season, their second loss in a row, the Mules returned home to face the Diplomats from Franklin and Marshall. From the tip it was obvious the Mules were out to send a message to the Centennial Conference not to forget about last years champs.

The Diplomats had played the Mules close out at Lancaster and put up an early fight. However, down 8-6 the Mules' junior point guard Abra Like gave her team the lead when she hit two three-pointers for six of her eight total points. With 9:51 in the first half the Diplomats cut a Muhlenberg nine point lead down to seven 20-13, but the Mules would not surrender another first half point going on 19-0 run before giving up a basket to the Diplomats to start the second half. The half time score was 39-13 The Mules were led by Courtney's 14 points and three blocks as she surprisingly came off the bench in favor of sophomore guard Kaitlin Strumph.

Coach Rohn's decision to change the lineup was made "to help the team relax as well as to get a quicker lineup on the floor for better defense." He also contributed that the great defensive performance came from the work done in practice: "We had been struggling against pressure defenses and worked against hard pressure in practice. Practicing this pressure has helped improve our defense."

In the second half, the Mules were able to play some of the lesser known players including freshman Katelyn Tolan who scored eight points and grabbed four offensive rebounds in 14 minutes of play. Freshman Kaitlyn O'Malley also contributed a career high ten points in only 12 minutes of play. The Mules also received a solid contribution from junior Michelle Feldman who was put back into the rotation. She tied the team high with eight rebounds and the team high with four assists in twenty minutes of play. Feldman exclaimed that she "was a little nervous at first but really excited to be back in the rotation and really enjoyed playing as a team." She continued to say "that everything flowed well offensively and that the team played good defense and that you just have to trust your teammates and know that they have your back." The Mules ended up winning the game 77-36 and moved on to get ready for Gettysburg on Saturday.

Lauren Boyle made a triumphant return to double digit scoring as she scored 16 points in the Mules 62-55 victory over the Bullets from Gettysburg. Boyle also led the team with five assists while Courtney recorded a P.J. Brown like double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

With the Mules trailing 51-53 with 2:44 the defense once again picked up allowing only two points the rest of the way while scoring 11 including four points form Abra Like all from the free throw line. The girls have two non-league games coming up. One against local rival Moravian which will count towards the Matte Award (the school that wins the most games wins the Matte Award for the year) the other against Alvernia, before they return back to Centennial Conference play for the last four regular season games.

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