A tremendous defensive effort paved the way for the Muhlenberg women's basketball team to defeat Washington College, 52-37, on Senior Day.

The win put the Mules (15-8, 6-7) in the thick of the Centennial Conference playoff picture with one week remaining in the regular season. They are tied for seventh place, one spot ouf of the final berth but just one game behind the fifth-place Shorewomen (14-9, 7-6), with games against two teams ahead of them (Ursinus and McDaniel) remaining. 

Prior to the game, Muhlenberg honored senior manager Lily Shapiro and senior players Ava Connolly, Rachel Saxton, Emily Unger and Megan Winters (pictured above with their families).

All four senior players started and contributed to the important win, combining for 39 of the Mules' 52 points. Unger led the way with 17 points, making four three-pointers, while Connolly added 12 points and a team-leading 8 rebounds.

But the story of the game was the defense, which forced 23 turnovers and held Washington to just over 30-percent shooting. The Shorewomen's big post player scored 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, but the rest of the squad was just 7-of-36 (19.4 percent) from the field.

Neither team could find the range in a first quarter that ended in a 5-5 tie, but Muhlenberg started to take control in the second quarter, with back-to-back threes by Unger fueling a 10-2 that sent the Mules into the break ahead by five.

Leading 27-23 after three quarters, Muhlenberg exploded for 25 points in the final period, in which it shot 70.0 percent from the field and 90.9 percent from the foul line. Washington scored the first basket of the fourth to make it 27-25, but the Mules did not allow another field goal in the next four minutes, turning the game into a runaway with a 12-1 run.

The victory put Muhlenberg at the 15-win mark for the first time since the 2018-19 season.