ALLENTOWN, Pa. - There is a lot to be said about having a gritty team that wants to get it done on both ends of the floor over 40 minutes and no matter how rough the shooting is finding a way to get the win. That is exactly what the Dickinson women's basketball team did on Thursday night as despite going 0-for-14 from deep and facing a seven-point deficit entering the fourth period, the Red and White outscored the host Muhlenberg College 21-7 over the final ten minutes to secure a 51-44 conference win over the Mules at Memorial Hall.
Dickinson would find the first points of the game 62-seconds in when
Victoria Zerbe put-back a miss from
Lindsey Hollenshead. Then the home side ripped off six straight with Ava Connolly and Emily Unger hitting at the foul line, before Connolly stuck a triple for the 6-2 edge at the halfway point. Four different Devils then found the bottom of the bucket during an 8-0 run as
Caitlin Blackman,
Mia Chapman,
Clair Marion and
Jenna Weinstein made it 10-6 visitors. A foul shot by Rachel Saxton along with a jumper for Riley Cassidy in the final minute cut it down to 10-9 after one.
A Weinstein layup at the 52-second mark pushed it to 12-9, before triples by Connolly and Unger brought the Mules to the front 15-12 with just over two minutes gone. Marion continued her charge towards an eventual double-double when she stunted the charge for just a second as the home side then embarked on a 7-0 run beginning with two on the stripe for Mia Fitzgerald and ending with a bucket by Connolly for a 22-14 advantage. Dickinson would end the period tallying four of the final six points thanks to jumpers from Marion (
Abby John assist) and Weinstein (
Molly Heron assist) to close within 24-18 heading to the break.
Muhlenberg started off the third by racking up six of the opening ten points with Marion accounting for the only four DC points to leave things at 30-22 inside seven minutes. Fitzgerald extended the lead to ten (32-22), before points from Hollenshead, Marion and Zerbecut the deficit down to 34-28 with 3:29 remaining.  An pass by Fitzgerald resulted in a three for Unger to make it 37-28, but two free throws from Marion had it at 37-30 with ten minutes to play.
Dickinson used a combination of solid defense and timely scoring over the first 5:26 of quarter number four to come all the way back to grab the lead at 40-37 with buckets coming from Hollenshead, Marion and Zerbe. After a layup for Caroline Horst, the Red and White continued their team Hollenshead and Zerbe converting layups in the paint, while the pair of Blackman and Weinstein knocked home three of four at the charity line to open up a sizable gap 46-39 at the 9:34 mark. The trio of John, Marion and Zerbe would salt the game away on the foul line hitting on four of six shots down the stretch to see out the 51-44 final.
Red Devil Leaders
Points - Marion (20), Zerbe (9), Hollenshead (8)
Assists - Blackman (2)
Rebounds - Marion (10), Hollenshead (8), Weinstein (7)
Mule Leaders
Points - Connolly (17), Unger (9)
Assists - Fitzgerald and Stockfeder (2)
Rebounds - Horst and Stockfeder (10)
Next on the CourtÂ
Dickinson (3-1, 2-0 Centennial) will look to push their win streak to four on Saturday when they welcome the Garnet of Swarthmore College to the Kline Center at 2pm for a conference showdown.
