Track and field, wrestling, baseball

women’s basketball advances in ncaas

The sign on Route 95 North reads “Welcome to Maine: The Way Life Should Be.” In their first game in The Pine Tree State, the Muhlenberg women put on a display of the way basketball should be.

The Mules received tremendous play from each of their starting five and defeated Westfield State, 80-63, in the first round of the NCAA Division III

Boyle’s 23 points left her 10 shy of second place on the Mules’ all-time list and 22 away from 1,500. She averaged 19.7 points in three career NCAA first-round games.

Tournament. Muhlenberg (25-3) advances to play host Bowdoin, a 72-31 winner against Castleton State, on Saturday with a trip to the Sweet 16 at stake.

Muhlenberg has won 11 straight – tying for the second-longest winning streak in school history – and is in the second round for the third time in

Cook scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half.

five NCAA appearances.

Senior Lauren Boyle led the Mules with a season-high 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Freshman Alexandra Chili scored 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting from three-point range in her first career NCAA game. Sophomore Sheila Cook added 16 points and 9 rebounds, and sophomore Kelly McKeon had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists with no turnovers in 37 minutes.

The fifth starter? Senior Erin McSherry scored only 2 points, but set the defensive tone, tying the school record for the fourth time in her career by blocking 6 shots.

The contributions from every spot on the floor were too much for the Owls (22-5), champions of the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference, to keep up with.

The game was tied at 18 with 8:30 left in the first half before the Mules made their move. Boyle scored 7 points in a 12-0 run that also featured one of Chili’s threes and a steal-and-layup by McKeon.

Muhlenberg went into the locker room ahead 36-25 and scored a quick five points in the first minute of the second half to extend its lead to 16.

The Mules led 47-32 before Westfield went on an 8-0 run to cut the margin to seven, but that was as close as it would get, as Muhlenberg held the Owls without a field goal for almost five minutes to re-establish a double-digit lead.

Chili’s six three-pointers increased her season total to 92, breaking the Centennial Conference record. She has 459 points this season, not far from the school record of 467.
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