ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Muhlenberg outscored McDaniel 27-15 in the third quarter to turn a five-point halftime edge into a 17-point lead en route to an 83-59 victory in the championship game of 2016 Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball tournament on Saturday.

Lindsey Nichols (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) led the Green Terror (21-6) to their second consecutive runner-up finish with 14 points while Sarah Bach (Manchester, Md./Manchester Valley) added 10 points.

Rachel Plotke and Christina Santone led the 13th-ranked Mules (24-2) to their second championship in a row and conference-leading ninth title overall with 21 and 19 points respectively. Brandy Vallely added 15 points and 13 assists.

After Christina Manning hit a cutting Santone for a 2-0 lead on Muhlenberg's first possession, Bach scored baskets on the next two McDaniel possessions.

Two Karli Zeps (Reisterstown, Md./Seton Keough) free throws and a Nichols 3-pointer extended the lead to 9-2 with 6:59 remaining in the first quarter.

The Mules, however, reeled off the next eight points, including a second-chance triple by Plotke to force a Green Terror timeout with 4:25 to play.

A Santone layup extended the run to 10-0 before Brittney Davis (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) pulled up in the lane to snap a 3-minute, 22-second scoring drought.

After Bach hit a kickout jumper to give McDaniel a one-point edge, Muhlenberg hit four free throws and a Chelsea Gary converted a layup for an 18-13 lead.

A Zeps elbow jumper with 39 ticks remaining cut the margin to three at the end of the first quarter.

Clinging to a 21-20 lead, Maggie Zerbe hit back-to-back jumper and Manning connected from the left side in transition to force a Green Terror timeout with 5:22 showing.

A Plotke wide-open layup off a Vallely steal-and-feed stretched the lead to 33-23 before seven straight McDaniel points, including a Halle Burgess (Ashton, Md./Good Counsel) 3-pointer, trimmed the deficit to 33-30 and forced a Muhlenberg timeout with 2:14 remaining.

A Manning jumper with 1:18 on the clock pushed the lead back to five at halftime.

The Mules scored the first four points of the third quarter before back-to-back Nichols 3-pointers made it a 39-36 game with 7:56 remaining.

Five straight Plotke points extended the Muhlenberg lead to 46-36 and keyed a 9-1 run that made it an 11-point game with 4:32 to play.

A Bach jumper and Renie Tsomos (Forest Hill, Md./Bel Air) 3-pointer around a Santone layup cut the deficit to 50-42 a minute later.

Two Burgess free throws made it a 50-44 game with 2:51 to play but the Mules closed the period on a 12-1 run to open up a 17-point lead entering the final period.

A Zerbe layup and two Vallely free throws extended the advantage to 19 before Davis converted a three-point play to snap a 4-minute, 34-second drought from the floor.

McDaniel will wait until Monday to see if it has done enough for a second straight at-large bid to the NCAA tournament or if will receive an ECAC appearance. The NCAA selection show is at 2:30 p.m. with the ECAC bids to follow.

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