Box Score (Carlisle, Pa.) – The Dickinson women's basketball team has come a long way since the start of the season and gave #12-ranked Muhlenberg all it could handle in a fierce Centennial Conference battle on Monday night at the Kline Center. The Mules pulled away at the end with solid free throw shooting, but were forced to face a challenge throughout the entire game.
The Mules jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first eight points of the contest and opened up a 10-point lead at the 6:34 mark of the first quarter. Dickinson trailed, 19-10, with 3:36 to play in the period.
The Red Devils closed out the quarter with an 11-2 run to tie the game at 21 at the end of the first. Jennifer Smith (Short Hills, N.J./Millburn) made a great play at the end of the period, grabbing a rebound and scoring a reverse put-back at the buzzer.
The second quarter was virtually even as well with Muhlenberg taking a 37-32 lead into halftime.
Dickinson took the lead, early in the third quarter behind a pair of quick three-pointers by Sam Kennedy (Chatham, N.J./Chatham). Muhlenberg countered before Helen Roberts (Oakton, Va./Oakton) drained a three-pointer and sophomore Kassidy Lesher (Shoemakersville, Pa./Hamburg) came on strong as the teams played to a tie at 48, with 5:06 remaining in the period.
Martin had a rebound and put-back and fed Mairead Donahue (Trumbull, Conn./St. Joseph) for a lay-up, around another three-pointer from Roberts for a 55-54 advantage, with 1:30 to play in the third.
Brani Vallely scored five points down the stretch to give the Mules a 60-55 lead at the end of three quarters of play.
Muhlenberg opened the lead to 10 at the 6:44 mark of the fourth as Rachel Plotke came alive on the offensive end, hitting a three-pointer and scoring a traditional three-point play as well.
The Red Devils kept coming as Kennedy cut the lead to nine with a three-pointer at the 3:51 mark. Roberts followed up with another score to make it a seven-point game.
Chelsea Gary and Vallely would close things out, going 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 1:47 of the game.
Vallely tied the Muhlenberg, single-game scoring record with 39 points on the night. She went 12-of-18 from the field and 15-for-17 from the line. The 12th-ranked Mules improve to 18-2 overall and 12-2 in the Centennial Conference.
Martin recorded another double-double, scoring 16 points to go with 11 rebounds, adding three assists and a pair of steals. Kennedy scored a team-high 20 points, hitting six three-pointers on the night. That matches the third-highest single-game total in program history.
Lesher reached double-figures with 15 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Roberts tallied 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
The Red Devils slip to 12-8 overall and 8-6 in the Centennial Conference. They travel to Gettysburg College for a 6:00 pm start on Wednesday night and return home for Senior Day Saturday, hosting Swarthmore College at 2:00 pm.
