WESTMINSTER, Md. – When the top two seeds meet for a title, what unfolded at the Gill Center on Saturday for the Centennial Conference (CC) championship is what is supposed to happen. Punch. Counterpunch. Ten ties. Seventeen lead changes. One team dominates inside. One team dominates outside. In short, a game that comes down to the wire.

When the final horn sounded, second-seeded Muhlenberg – after hitting all four of its free throws in the final 10 seconds – edged top-seeded McDaniel 68-64 for its eighth title.

Steph Perez (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) led four players in double figures for the Green Terror (24-3) with 18 points, including hitting six of her squad's program-record 13 3-pointers. The squad's previous best mark was 12 triples against Gettysburg to close the 2010 regular season. Perez also dished out a career high-tying five assists.

Lindsey Nichols (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) added 12 points, including four triples. Brittney Davis (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) added 14 points, including two 3-pointers, to go with seven assists. Alyssa March (Fallston, Md./Fallston) rounded out the quartet with 11 points.

Leanna Tallamy paced the Mules (20-7) to the NCAA automatic qualifier with 20 points and nine rebounds to earn tournament most valuable player honors. Laura Gregory chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds. The duo helped the visitors to a 42-16 advantage in the paint.

While Muhlenberg takes the conference's AQ, McDaniel is left waiting to see if its 24-3 mark is good enough for an at-large bid when the field is announced at 2:30 p.m. on Monday. The Green Terror will also have the possibility of an ECAC bid if the NCAA bid does not happen.

Trailing 31-24 at the break, Tallamy and Gregory helped the Mules open the second half on an 11-3 run to take a one-point edge with 15:28 showing.

On the other end, Perez canned a triple to snap McDaniel's 0-for-6 start to the second half.

Neither team would open up a lead of larger than three until Gregory canned the first of two free throws for a 55-51 lead with 6:54 remaining.

A Karli Zeps (Reisterstown, Md./Seton Keough) layup and three straight points from March put McDaniel back in front, 56-55 with 4:29 on the clock.

A Gregory three-point play with 2:47 remaining once again gave the visitors a four-point edge before Davis hit a midrange romper to cut the deficit to 62-60.

Janelle Fleet had the answer at the other end to push the lead back to four.

After Davis hit one free throw to cut it to three, the defense got a stop but – out of a timeout with 21.9 seconds left – McDaniel went long on a potential game-tying 3-pointer and the Mules corralled the rebound.

Hannah Rush hit her two free throws with 9.7 seconds remaining before Perez canned the record-breaking 3-pointer with 3.4 ticks showing to make it a 66-64 game.

Rush was fouled on the inbound and hit both of her attempts from the charity stripe to seal the title.

Both teams opened up four-point advantages through the game's first 8:19 before McDaniel scored seven of eight points to take a 16-14 lead with 10:02 on the clock.

A Gregory layup and Tallamy three-point play on the break made it a 19-16 Muhlenberg lead with 6:15 showing.

A Perez 3-pointer – the first of five straight made field goals that came from behind the arc – ignited a 15-3 run that opened up a 31-22 lead with 2:08 to play in the opening half.

Christina Santone made it a seven-point game at the break, scoring nearly a minute later.

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