The Muhlenberg women’s basketball team dodged a bullet and pulled out a 62-55 win over Gettysburg in the closing minutes of the teams’ Centennial Conference battle.

Prior to today’s game, the teams stood in a tie for third place in the CC standings with three losses apeice. The win for the Mules earned them sole possession of third place and dropped the Bullets one spot to fourth.

Courtney recorded one of her two blocks during the Mules’ closing run to preserve a two-point lead with 1:02 remaining.

After Gettysburg (11-8, 8-4) took its first lead of the game with 2:44 remaining, Muhlenberg went on an 11-2 run to close out the contest. Sophomore Kaitlin Strumph sparked the run, hitting a jumper to tie the score at 53-53 with 2:26 to go.

“I don’t usually shoot,” Strumph said, “but I was wide open, so I just let it go.”

Two Bullet free throws put the Mules back down by two, but Muhlenberg junior Abra Like countered with two free throws of her own and tied the score at 55-55. Another jumper by Strumph put the Mules up for good, 57-55, with under 90 seconds to go.

In the closing minute, Muhlenberg (15-3, 10-3) held the Bullets scoreless and went to the free-throw line six times, converting on five of those six attempts. The Mules even capitalized on the missed free throw, as Strumph pulled down the offensive board and maintained possession for the Mules when they were up by three with 47 seconds remaining.

“Coach Rohn just told us to crash the boards on a miss and try to get another score to make it a two-possession game,” said Strumph, who finished the game with seven points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Although it was a fight to the finish, the whole game wasn’t so close. Muhlenberg built a nine-point lead going into halftime and led by as many as 15 points in the second half.

But with the Mules leading 44-29 with 15:03 to go, the Bullets went on a 24-7 run over the next 12:19 to take their first lead of the game. Muhlenberg then went on its 11-2 run to regain the lead and seal the victory.

“At the end, everyone came together and played really well as team,” Strumph said.

Senior Meghan Courtney recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore Lauren Boyle also scored 16 points in addition to dishing out five assists. Sophomore Erin McSherry contributed a game-high three blocks to go along with eight points.

Click here for box score.