By Trey Piper

(Carlisle, Pa.) – The Dickinson women's basketball team dropped a closely contested match up to Muhlenberg College, falling 44-40 on Wednesday evening. 

Dickinson jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the game as Kate Deutsch (Marlton, N.J./Camden Catholic) dropped in a layup to put the Red Devils out in front. 

Later in the first quarter, Muhlenberg took an 8-5 lead following a pair of free throws. Dickinson stormed back to end the quarter with seven straight points courtesy of a layup by Deutsch, a three-point field goal from Jennifer Kremp (Jenkintown, Pa./Jenkintown), and a layup from Hannah Heiring (Wayzata, Minn./Wayzata) to give the Devils a 12-9 advantage at the end of one. 

Dickinson came out firing to begin the second quarter, building an 18-12 lead on back-to-back triples by Hannah Peck (Baldwin, N.Y./Sacred Heart) and Heiring with 6:30 to play. 

The Red Devils stretched their lead to eight before the Mules went on a quick 7-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to one with just under 3:30 to play in the half. 

Dickinson weathered the storm and quickly built a lead back up on a pair of free throws by Kremp followed by a jump shot by Maura Leverone (Herndon, Va./Bishop O'Connell) to send the Red Devils to the locker room with a 24-19 halftime lead. 

The second half started slow, with both teams looking to find their groove offensively. The Red Devils struck first with free throws by Halle Maeda (Santa Monica, Calif./Mira Costa) and Deutsch. First-year Katie Montgomery (Scituate, Mass./Scituate) would convert from inside to increase the advantage for the home team to 28-19. 

Muhlenberg would cut the lead to four before Maeda knocked down a three to put Dickinson back up by seven with under two minutes remaining in the third. The Mules made another run to close out the quarter as they cut the Red Devils lead to three to end the quarter.

Muhlenberg tied the game on a three-pointer by Tara Szawaluk to knot the score at 31.  Dickinson came right back and regained the lead on a three from Maeda. 

The Mules would jump out to a 44-37 lead late in the fourth and would hold on following a three from Kremp to secure the 44-40 victory. 

Maeda would lead the way for the Red Devils, finishing with 11 points and two made threes on the night. Kremp also finished in double figures with 10.  First-year Mia Kolb (Jenkintown, Pa./Jenkintown) also added seven points for Dickinson. 

The Red Devils fall to 9-9 overall and 7-6 in the Centennial Conference.  They will travel to Haverford on Saturday for a 1:00 pm tip-off.