(Haverford, Pa.) – The Dickinson women's basketball team made a great run late, but #2-seed Muhlenberg College held on to top the #3-seed Red Devils, 56-51, in the Centennial Conference semifinals on Friday night at Haverford College.
Muhlenberg jumped out to a 17-4 lead in the first quarter but the Red Devils would rally to cut the deficit to just four, 24-20, at halftime.
First-year Hannah Heiring (Wayzata, Minn./Wayzata) came on to score back-to-back field-goals to make the score, 17-8, at the end of the first quarter. Solid defense kept the game scoreless for almost four minutes in the second before senior Helen Roberts (Oakton, Va./Oakton) knocked down a three-pointer to pull the Devils within six.
Christina Manning scored for Muhlenberg and senior Jennifer Smith (Short Hills, N.J./Millburn) went on a 5-0 run to pull Dickinson with three, 19-16, with 2:28 to play in the half.
The Mules countered with back-to-back scores before Smith and Mary Martin (Honesdale, Pa./Honesdale) answered to make it a four-point game at the break.
Muhlenberg used a 10-0 run in the third quarter to build the lead to 14 with 3:22 on the clock. Lauren McBride (Trenton, N.J./Gill St. Bernard's) came on a hit a three-pointer and Heiring scored and hit two free throws to pull the Devils within eight, 37-29, with 1:47 left to play.
Heiring hit a three-pointer to pull Dickinson within five before single free throws gave Muhlenberg a 39-32 advantage at the end of the third.
Muhlenberg built the lead to 49-36, early in the fourth quarter. Roberts would catch fire and lead the Red Devils on a final charge down the stretch. She hit a trio of three-pointers in a span of just over a minute to cut the deficit to five with 30 seconds left to play.
Brandi Vallely stretched the margin back to eight with 20 seconds on the clock, but Roberts and the Devils weren't done quite yet.
Roberts converted one-of-two free throws on a technical foul for an illegal substitution and then was fouled on a three-point attempt. She hit all three to make it a four-point game with four seconds left. Sara Dilly hit a free throw on the other end for the final of 56-51.
Vallely led the Mules with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds as Muhlenberg improved to 19-7 on the season. They will face #4-seed Gettysburg in the final on Saturday at 4:00 pm.
Roberts finished with 16 points and a pair of assists, hitting four three-pointers on the night. Heiring reached double-figures with 12 points, adding four rebounds while Martin tallied nine points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Smith scored seven points to go with four rebounds, and Kassidy Lesher (Shoemakersville, Pa./Hamburg) grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Red Devils finish the season 18-8 overall. Roberts raised her school record for single season three-pointers to 78 and the career mark to 169. Martin moved into fourth in program history with 698 career rebounds while Lesher moved up to sixth with 669.