Tait Tallies 19 Points, 8 Rebounds, 8 Assists in Loss

ALLENTOWN, PA – Host 16th-ranked Muhlenberg College jumped out to a 46-28 halftime lead en route to an 83-65 Centennial Conference women's basketball victory over visiting Washington College on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Hall. The Mules improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play with the win, while the Shorewomen slipped to 2-5 and 2-2 respectively.

Washington jumped out to a 10-7 lead with 16:03 left in the first half on two free throws from senior forward Julie Sherwood (Fairfield, CT/Fairfield Warde). Muhlenberg would counter with a 13-3 run to give the hosts a 20-13 lead with 13:46 to go in the first half on a Kelly McKeon jumper. The Shorewomen countered with the next seven points to tie it at 20-20 with 10:18 left on a Sherwood make. McKeon would put the Mules up for good at 22-20 with 9:56 to go in the first and that would ignite a 16-2 spurt of their own to grab a 36-22 lead with 5:42 left in the first half. McKeon capped the run when she scored on a layup and then hit a free throw to finish a traditional three-point play. Muhlenberg would take a 46-28 lead into the break.

In the second half Washington got it as close as 14 points on two occasions. WC cut the Mules lead to 14 points the second time at 50-36 on a free throw by sophomore guard Meghan Tait (Oxford, PA/Oxford Area) with 16:57 left in the game, but could not get any closer. Muhlenberg would lead by as many as 24 points at 75-51 on a Kaitlyn O'Malley layup with 6:42 to play.

Muhlenberg's Alexandra Chili had 19 points to tie for tops in the contest, while McKeon netted a double-double with 14 points and a game-best 10 rebounds.

For Washington, Tait had 19 points to tie for the game-high and led all players with eight assists. Freshman center Erin Kile (Benton, PA/Benton) scored 12 points, Sherwood had 11 points and sophomore guard/forward Sally O'Donnell (Cape May Court House, NJ/Wildwood Catholic) contributed 10 points. Sherwood and Tait each corralled eight rebounds to lead WC.

Muhlenberg shot 41% from the field in the game to Washington's 32%. The Mules edged the Shorewomen in rebounds by a 44-42 margin. Muhlenberg outscored Washington in bench points, 34-6.

The Shorewomen return to action Wednesday with a 6:00 p.m. Centennial Conference home game against Swarthmore.