women’s basketball 15th in final poll;
chili named to all-america team

The Muhlenberg women’s basketball team had an excellent season and a phenomenal postseason, and now it is having a

WBCA final poll school record 1. Amherst 32-1 2. Washington (Mo.) 25-6 3. Christopher Newport 30-4 4. Illinois Wesleyan 27-6 5. Chicago 25-4 6. George Fox 25-6 7. Babson 30-1 8. Thomas More 30-1 9. Wis.-Stevens Point 27-3 10. Lebanon Valley 28-3 11. Hope 27-3 12. Kean 24-5 13. Coe 26-4 14. William Paterson 26-4 15. MUHLENBERG 23-6 16. Calvin 25-5 17. Greensboro 28-3 18. Mt. Union 26-4 19. Denison 28-1 20. DePauw 25-4 21. Bowdoin 24-6 22. Rochester 21-6 23. Louisiana College 25-4 24. St. Norbert 23-3 25. Howard Payne 22-8 Others receiving votes: Simpson, Eastern Connecticut State, St. Vincent, Western Connecticut State, Johns Hopkins, Mount St. Mary, Randolph-Macon, Williams, Colby, Wis.-Whitewater.

pretty good post-postseason.

After winning the Centennial Conference championship and reaching the “Sweet 16” of the NCAA Tournament, the Mules were ranked 15th in the final Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) poll of the season. In the D3hoops.com poll, they finished at No. 20.

The No. 15 final ranking is the second-best in program history. In 2009, when Muhlenberg advanced to the “Sweet 16” for the first time, it was No. 14 in the post-tournament D3hoops.com poll.

The Mules went 4-1 in the postseason, defeating four teams that were nationally ranked during the season (Gettysburg, Johns Hopkins, Williams and Rochester), two in road games and two on neutral floors. Their lone postseason loss was to eventual national champion Amherst. Muhlenberg played eight games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament (three against Johns Hopkins and one each against Richard Stockton, DeSales, Williams, Rochester and Amherst) and went 4-4 in those game, with two of the losses coming in overtime.

Junior Alexandra Chili, the leading scorer for the Mules, received honorable mention on the State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team, chosen by the WBCA. She is the third All-American in program history, joining Meghan Courtney (2007) and Lauren Boyle (2008 and 2009).

Chili, a first-team all-region selection, ranked in the top 30 in Division III in three statistical categories. She was 18th in three-pointers per game, 23rd in free-throw percentage and 27th in scoring. She led the Mules in all those categories and also was third on the team in assists and blocked shots, fourth in steals and fifth in rebounding.

Chili broke her own school record with 546 points and tied the school record for field goals in a season (181). During the season, she broke the school and CC records for three-pointers in a career. Chili will enter her senior season third on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,497 career points, fewer than 200 away from the school record.