After a quick Muhlenberg timeout to congratulate the accomplishment, Alvernia sophomore Allee Barnes (Blooming Glen, PA/Pennridge) cut the gap to two with a jumper, but Courtney dropped in a high-arching 3 right in front of her own bench to push the lead back to four. Alvernia senior Lauren Fortna (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon Catholic), who led the Crusaders (12-8) with 25 points, hit a 3 to answer, but Courtney worked a post move for a 3-point play at 1:48 and the lead remained above five the rest of the way.
Courtney finished the day 9-for-22 from the floor, perfect on three attempts from the arc and seven from the foul line, and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds. Senior guard Emily Wright (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) also reached double figures for the Muhls (18-3) with 16. Alvernia senior Kerry Higgs (Westminster, MD/Westminster) scored 19 for the Crusaders and Barnes and Erin Knarr (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson) added 10 points apiece.
Muhlenberg took an early four-point lead on a 3 by Courtney, the first of seven first-half 3s for the guests. Alvernia turned the tables taking its own four-point lead, 13-9, following a Higgs free throw. The Crusaders, who set a school record for free throws made with 34 this past Thursday, knocked down 12-of-15 first half free throw attempts.
The lead grew to seven points for the hosts, 21-14, following four straight free throws from Fortna, but the Muhls got 10 straight points from Wright to fuel a 15-3 run that gave them a five-point lead with just under 8:00 left in the opening half.
Alvernia quickly tied the score at 31-all and took a brief 33-31 lead on a Higgs layup. Muhlenberg sophomore Kaitlin Strumph (Wesley Hills, NY/Immaculate Heart) hit the seventh 3 of the half for the Muhls to break a 37-37 tie and the guests scored eight of the final 12 points of the half to take a 45-41 lead at the break.
Wright hit a 3 to open the second half scoring and the Muhlenberg lead was seven. Fortna answered that with a 3 and scored 10 straight for Alvernia during a 12-7 run that Barnes capped with a jumper at 16:25 that put the hosts up one, 53-52. The lead exchanged hands a few times over the next four minutes before Alvernia posted a six-point lead, 66-60, with 11:15 to play.
Muhlenberg erased that with a 7-0 spurt and Knarr’s jumper at 6:37 preceded the corner 3 from Courtney.
Alvernia will return to the conference schedule on Monday when it hosts Gwynedd-Mercy College as part of a women’s and men’s doubleheader starting at 6:00 p.m.
Muhlenberg 90, Alvernia 81