HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Gettysburg College women's basketball team whittled a 13-point deficit down to four with 5:45 to play, but Muhlenberg College's size and championship experience proved the difference in the end as the Mules captured their third consecutive Centennial Conference title with a 74-61 victory over the Bullets inside Gooding '84 Arena at Haverford College.
 
Muhlenberg (20-7) carried a 56-43 advantage into the final quarter of play, but Gettysburg (20-8) sliced the lead down to four (56-52) with a nine-point run. The Mules turned in nine of the next 11 points to push the lead back to double-figures. Muhlenberg iced the game by hitting 11-of-12 free throws in the final 56 seconds.
 
Junior Emily Gibbons (Annapolis, Md./Severn School) led Gettysburg with 26 points and seven rebounds. The junior's scoring performance pushed her past Jennifer Bengel '06 for the most points in a single season in program history. She finished with 530 points this campaign, surpassing Bengel's mark of 512 from 2005-06. Gibbons also finished with Gettysburg single-season records for field goals made (220), field-goal percentage (.580), rebounds (372), rebounding average (13.3), defensive rebounds (270), and defensive rebound average (9.6).
 
Gettysburg was without second-leading scorer Emma Dorshimer (Jenkintown, Pa./Jenkintown) for much of the game. Dorshimer injured her foot in the first quarter and would attempt a brief return in the second period before heading to the bench for the rest of the contest.
 
Picking up the slack offensively was freshman Ashley Gehrin (West Morris, N.J./West Morris Mendham) who tied a season best with 16 points. Freshman Kiera Cesareo(Randolph, N.J./Randolph) added 10 points and junior Kendra Meredith (Boyds, Md./Northwest) tallied five points, five rebounds, and six assists.  
 
Brandi Vallely was named Tournament MVP after posting 18 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds in the finale. Chelsea Gary posted 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Carley Hamilton and Rachel Plotke turned in 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Gettysburg took control late in the opening quarter with a lay-up by Gibbons kick-starting a 10-2 run. Gehrin accounted for seven of the points with a pair of free throws pushing the Bullets in front 20-12.
 
Muhlenberg used its size to get back in front as Gary and Hamilton accounted for 11 points during a 13-3 run to open the second quarter. The Mules out-scored the Bullets 20-9 in the frame and walked into the locker room with a 34-29 lead.
 
The margin reached double-figures on a lay-up by Hamilton which made it 44-34 with 4:34 left in the third quarter. Gettysburg dialed in from distance, knocking down three three-pointers over the next minute to slice the deficit back down to three (46-43).
 
Back-to-back threes by Plotke helped Muhlenberg end the third period on a 10-0 run.
 
The Mules missed eight-straight shots and committed two turnovers to start the fourth period and allowed Gettysburg to pull within four points midway through the period. A jumper by Gary took the lid off the rim and Vallely converted a lay-up to push it back to an eight-point lead (60-52) with 3:37 left.
 
Gettysburg finished 23-of-58 (39.7 percent) from the floor, while Muhlenberg finished 23-of-60 (38.3 percent). The Mules out-rebounded the Bullets 49-28.
 
With the win, Muhlenberg receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.