The Muhlenberg women's basketball led the entire second half in a 54-44 home win against Haverford.

Playing the third of three consecutive games against teams that made the Centennial Conference playoffs last year, the Mules (7-3, 2-3) outscored the Fords 17-5 in the second quarter to take a 29-19 lead into the locker room.

Haverford (3-4, 1-3) went on an 11-2 run in the third quarter to close the gap, and it remained close through most of the fourth. Muhlenberg called a timeout ahead by two with 4:03 remaining, and off the inbounds play, junior Rachel Saxton hit a corner three to extend the lead to 46-41.

That proved to be the dagger. The Fords came up empty on their next three possessions, while the Mules got two free throws from junior Jenna Stockfeder and one from Saxton, plus a layup by senior Caroline Horst off a post-to-post pass from Stockfeder, to build an insurmountable double-digit lead.

Saxton tied her career high for the second straight game by scoring 16 points, with 15 of them coming in the second half. She added 4 assists. Junior Ava Connolly also netted 16.

Stockfeder finished with 7 points and 13 rebounds, including 7 on the offensive glass. The Mules pulled down 19 offensive rebounds as a team and took 11 more shots than the Fords, which allowed them to stay in front despite shooting just 26.7 percent from the field.

Horst's late basket accounted for her only points of the game, but she contributed 6 rebounds, 4 assists and a career-high 4 blocked shots.

Junior Megan Winters gave the Mules a big lift off the bench in the first half, scoring a career-high 7 points.

pictured above: sophomore Mia Fitzgerald