ALLENTOWN, Pa. — With a chance to go undefeated in its non-conference portion of the schedule for a second straight season, the Elizabethtown College women's basketball team shot under 30 percent for just the third time this season and fell to Muhlenberg Wednesday evening 72-48. Emily Martin was E-town leading scorer with 16 points.

Muhlenberg (15-6) was out to a 5-0 lead through the first couple minutes until Rachel Forjan scored five straight for Elizabethtown (15-6) to tie the game. Taylor Alwine assisted on both of Forjan's baskets.

After the slow start to the game for both teams, the pace quickened as the Mules and Blue Jays began trading buckets. Leanna Tallamy, who had a game-high 19 points, put Muhlenberg back ahead 7-5 before Forjan drained her second trey of the first half to make it 8-7. The junior had E-town's first eight points.

Nikki Thompson knocked down her first shot of the game to continue the 10-2 run for the Blue Jays. Caroline Barberi hit back-to-back threes to stop the run and send the Mules back in front.

Alyssa Aichele returned the lead back to Elizabethtown with 12:07 left in the first half, but the Jays would go scoreless over the next eight minutes of game time while Muhlenberg went on an 11-0 run. Emily Martin snapped the scoreless drought, grabbing an offensive rebound and putting it back to make it 24-16.

Down 28-17 with a few minutes to go before half, Martin hit two free throws, and then Thompson and Martin both had made layups after grabbing offensive boards on an E-town missed shot. Martin's second put-back brought EC within five at 27-22.

Muhlenberg used another 11-0 run to end the half, and led 38-22 at the intermission.

Elizabethtown's struggle from the floor continued in the second half. After posting a 9-for-30 (30 percent) line in the first half, E-town shot just 8-for-32 (25 percent) in the second half and 1-for-14 from beyond the arc. It was also the first time in 13 games that the Blue Jays turned the ball over more than 20 times (22 total).

On the other hand, Muhlenberg had the hot hand. The Mules hit 44 percent of their shots in the first half, and then raised that percentage to 57 (12-for-21) in the second half. They were also 9-for-12 from the foul line in the final 20 minutes.

Martin put up eight points in each half to finish with a team-high 16 for E-town. She grabbed seven rebounds along with Aichele. Forjan had eight points while Aichele had seven.

The women's basketball team will finish out its schedule with three more Landmark Conference contests. First up is a pivotal matchup at Moravian on Saturday, February 14 with major playoff implications. Game time is set for 2 p.m.