women’s basketball defeated in double-OT

To the Muhlenberg women’s basketball team, its game at Moravian was, in the words of Hamlet, “most foul, strange, and unnatural.”

The Mules had their four-game winning streak snapped with a 95-90 double-overtime

Junior Bethany Enterline grabs one of her six rebounds. She also scored three points and blocked two shots.

loss to their Lehigh Valley rivals, who were 40-of-50 from the free throw line. Muhlenberg attempted just 16 from the stripe and was whistled for 33 fouls, compared to 18 for the Greyhounds.

Cook puts in her game-tying layup at the end of the first overtime. She was 8-of-11 from the field and had eight points and five rebounds in the two overtime periods.

In a game that featured seven ties and 10 lead changes, the Mules (5-3) overcame an eight-point deficit early in the second half to take their biggest lead, 63-56, on a three-pointer by senior Michelle Feldman with 7:28 left. Three Greyhound three-pointers, mixed in with a Muhlenberg hoop, tied the score at 65 with less than four minutes to play.

The game remained that way until junior Lauren Boyle drove the baseline for a layup that gave the Mules a 67-65 lead with 19.4 seconds to play. Moravian (5-3) tied the score with a short jumper just six seconds later.

Muhlenberg took a jumper with eight seconds left in regulation, and the rebound was batted out to near midcourt, where a Greyhound player had a clear path to the basket. With 0.7 seconds showing on the clock, however, freshman Kelly McKeon dove to knock the ball out of her hands, preventing the potential game-winning layup.

The Mules’ other freshman, Sheila Cook, made the big play at the end of the first overtime. Moravian led by five points with 1:51 left and by four with 27 ticks on the clock. After McKeon made two free throws at the 19-second mark, Muhlenberg used its press to force a turnover on the inbounds pass. McKeon’s off-balance layup missed, but Cook grabbed the rebound and put the ball back in with 4.3 seconds remaining, sending the game into a second extra period tied at 77.

In the second overtime, the Mules trailed by four heading into the final minute. A three-pointer by McKeon cut the deficit to one, but Moravian went 8-of-10 from the line the rest of the way to pull away.

McKeon finished with a career-high 20 points and added seven rebounds and four assists. Cook recorded her first double-double with career highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Boyle scored 19 points before fouling out midway through the first overtime.

The game tied two other double-overtime contests, against Widener in both 1989 and 1995, as the longest in team history.
Click here for box score.