COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team's quest for a playoff berth will come down to the final day of the regular season. No. 15 Muhlenberg dealt the home side a 78-52 loss on Senior Day this afternoon, pushing the Bears into a do-or-die season finale at Gettysburg on Monday night. A win there would give Ursinus its first Centennial Conference playoff berth in four years, while a loss would end its season. With the victory, and the Bullets' win over McDaniel, the Mules clinched the conference's regular-season crown and the rights to host next week's championship tournament.
Senior forward Elana Roadcloud finished with ten points and a game-high 13 rebounds for her second career double-double after being honored alongside classmates Alyssa Polimeni, Caroline Shimrock, and Jessica Porada in a pregame ceremony. Polimeni had ten points and five assists and Shimrock added six points and six rebounds in her final game in Helfferich Hall.
Rachel Plotke scored a game-high 17 points and Christina Santone racked up 16 points, nine boards, and seven blocks for Muhlenberg (22-2, 16-2), which shot 49.1 percent from the field and rejected 16 shots. Brandi Vallely (10 points, 10 assists) and Chelsea Gary (10 points, 11 rebounds) registered double-doubles for the Mules, who limited Ursinus (11-13, 9-8) to 26.1-percent shooting on the day.
Junior guard Olivia Kane had nine of her team-high 11 points after halftime and junior guard Libby Lannon registered a season-high ten markers to go with three assists and four steals for Ursinus, which was unable to contend with the Mules' imposing front line. Muhlenberg, which came in ranked third in Division III in field-goal percentage defense, had eight blocks in the first quarter alone, after which the visitors led, 19-10.
A three-point play by Lannon, who made her fourth start of the season, cut the deficit to six, but the Mules galloped ahead from there. Plotke's deep triple ignited a 9-0 run that stretched the bulge to 15, and the halftime advantage grew to 20 after Vallely's basket in the final minute of the second quarter.
Ursinus got as close as 13 on two occasions in the second half, but Muhlenberg extended the margin to as much as 28 in the closing minutes. The Mules held a 41-16 advantage in the paint and scored 11 fast-break points.
In addition to her first double-double of the season, Roadcloud came up with four blocked shots, a steal, and an assist. Eight of her rebounds were on the offensive end.
The Bears' playoff fate will be decided in Gettysburg at 8 p.m. on Monday, February 22. A victory would send Ursinus to fourth-seeded Dickinson for the Centennial Conference first-round contest on Wednesday. A loss would hand the final postseason ticket to Haverford, which kept its hopes alive with a win at Swarthmore.