ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (14-8, 12-6 CC) was upended by host Muhlenberg (10-11, 9-7 CC) Tuesday evening at Memorial Hall, as the Mules prevailed by a final score of 49-38 to even up the season series between the two Eastern Pennsylvania sides.
Senior Cortlyn Morris recorded four blocks and nine rebounds in the contest. Her single-season blocks total has now matched Samantha Wetzel '18's 86 blocks during the 2017-18 season for the most in program history. Morris will look to become the single-season program record holder on her Senior Day Saturday afternoon. Kayla Robinson again proved to be a threat on both sides of the ball with yet another double-double effort, her 17th of the season, adding 12 points to 14 rebounds in 39 minutes of game action. Ally Landau also tallied in double figures, with 11 points.
The Fords began the contest on a 6-2 run, with Landau adding a triple for the first points of the night, but Muhlenberg then unleashed a quick 6-0 spurt of its own, taking the early lead at 10-8 behind a hot start from Caroline Horst. The run prompted a Haverford timeout with 5:24 remaining in the half, allowing the Fords to regroup. Landau tied the score at 10-10 with 4:41 to play in the stanza, but the two sides then entered a sustained scoreless drought that was not broken until Megan Winters connected on a layup in the final seconds of the quarter to give the Mules the lead heading into the second.
Margaux Eripret extended the Muhlenberg lead to five at 15-10 with a three-pointer in the early goings of the second, and despite a Morris layup, the hot-shooting hosts continued to build the lead as Vaughan and Eripret connected on back-to-back treys for a 21-12 advantage with 6:15 left in the first half. Haverford was held scoreless for another five-minute stretch as the overall Muhlenberg run eventually hit 20-4.
Summer Ryan ended the drought with a long two that came with 2:50 to play, but the hot perimeter start from Muhlenberg continued in earnest, as Rachel Saxton poured in a triple for a 13-point cushion with under two minutes left in the first half.
Haverford headed to the intermission down by 11 at 26-17, searching for answers in the road contest. After Kayla Robinson opened the second half with a layup, another trey from the hosts put the Mules up 12 quickly. Morris returned fire with a baseline jumper to trim the lead to 10 with eight minutes to play in the third. Eripret responded to put her team up 34-21, giving Muhlenberg its largest lead up to that point in the contest, and Emily Unger also connected from three to put the Mules up 37-23 with just under six minutes to play.
The run was stopped by a Gia Flamini layup with 5:03 to play in the third, and after another long scoreless stretch, Haverford suddenly had a 6-2 run following Robinson's jumper with 8:31 left in regulation. Landau and Flamini hit big shots down the stretch to put Haverford back within nine with 4:20 remaining in regulation, but a 7-2 run to close things out helped the Mules pull away in the waning moments.
Haverford struggled to find consistent looks, shooting just 25.4 percent from the field and 11.1 percent from beyond the arc. Muhlenberg had some hot stretches, but also found it hard to connect from the field with a 34.5 percent shooting night and a 7-for-25 performance from three-point distance.
The Fords controlled the rebounding battle, 43-38, but Muhlenberg committed less turnovers and ultimately used a pair of standout performances from Horst (15 points, 14 rebounds 7-of-9 shooting) and Eripret (14 points, 10 rebounds) to lead the way.
Haverford now returns to action on Saturday, with another key showdown against the Bullets of Gettysburg. The contest, slated for 1 p.m. inside Gooding '84 Arena, is also Senior Day for the program. Prior to tip-off, Haverford will honor seniors Eleanor Alix, Cortlyn Morris, Kayla Robinson, and current senior student manager Sydney Cummings.