For the first seven games of the season, five of the six freshmen on the Muhlenberg women’s basketball team saw only spot duty, watching mostly from the bench as their more experienced teammates drove the Mules to a 7-0 start and a No. 13 ranking in the national poll.

Last night, they got their chance, and did they ever make the most of it.

The five freshmen – Abby Stenger, Laura Gregory, Nicole Pepe, Janelle Fleet and Emily Lesher – combined to outscore Bryn Mawr, totaling 50 points in a 115-43 win that tied the school record for biggest margin of victory. The quintet had scored 31 points total in the first seven games.

(The sixth freshman, Hannah Rush, has seen more playing time but did not dress for last night’s game.)

“We’re all willing to wait our turn,” said Gregory, who scored 12 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in 14 minutes. “We all have so much respect for the upperclassmen. The players ahead of me, Alita Zabrecky and Kim Mui, are the players I want to become.

“We’re still learning. This is a completely different level from high school, especially the way we play. It’s so much more intense, and we’re still experiencing new things.”

Scoring 115 points was a new experience for everyone except the coaching staff, which was around when the Mules ran the Grinnell system and averaged 90.8 points per game in 2003-04. Muhlenberg reached triple digits eight times that season and twice more the following year, but had done so only once since.

And it was a welcome new experience for Stenger, whose James River High School team played in a few games with big scores.

“Usually we were on the other side of that score,” she said. “It was exciting to be on the winning side.”

Muhlenberg led 50-22 at halftime – the third time this season it has scored at least 50 points in the first half. The Mules finished the first two games with 94 and 85, but this time they scored 20 points in the first four minutes of the second half, coming up empty on only one of 10 possessions, to extend their lead to 70-28.

“It was crazy how fast they were scoring!” said Gregory (pictured).

The Mules slowed the scoring pace a little for the next few minutes, but then picked it up again, with 25 points in the last 7:30. The freshmen accounted for 19 of those points, with Stenger pouring in eight of her team-high 20 during that span.

“We all just played really hard, and the baskets came,” said Stenger. “We definitely played our hardest, and that’s why we were able to score as much as we did. Hopefully we’ll be able to do it again this season.”

Whether it happens this season or more in future seasons, it looks like the members of this freshman class will have many more baskets coming their way for Muhlenberg.

Whenever her teammates on the Muhlenberg women’s basketball team make a joke at her expense, junior Alita Zabrecky knows exactly how to get them back.

A native of Center Valley, which just so happens to be the home of one of the Lehigh Valley’s other strong programs, DeSales, Zabrecky just threatens to go home.

“She’ll tell us she’s going to transfer,” sophomore Erin Laney said with a laugh after the Mules’ 66-60 win over the Bulldogs last night. “So I guess it’s a good thing we won, because now we know she’ll stay.”

It’s a good-natured joke, of course. Zabrecky isn’t going anywhere soon, which is good news for the Mules and bad news for future opponents.

An honorable mention all-conference performer last season, Zabrecky has raised her game even more this year, leading the Mules in rebounding and steals, while ranking second in scoring.

It was that well-rounded game that helped her gain attention when she came out of Southern Lehigh High School. But while Zabrecky could have literally walked home whenever she wanted had she chose DeSales, she said she could not imagine going to college a little more than a long 3-pointer away from her house.

But it was more than just location that drew Zabrecky to Muhlenberg. Her mother, Judy, is a Muhlenberg grad, and when Alita visited the school and met her future teammates, she said she knew right away that she would become a Mule.

“DeSales is a great school and they have a great program, but it was a little too close for me,” said Zabrecky, who led the Mules with 16 points and added eight rebounds last night to move to 2-1 in her career against DeSales. “Muhlenberg gave me the opportunity to still be close to home but have some space at the same time. And when I met the team and saw how they played, I knew this was where I wanted to be.

“It’s always pretty neat playing against DeSales. But losing to them in overtime last year felt awful. So it was nice to be able to get them back.”

More than two years after choosing Muhlenberg, it seems to be a match made in heaven. Zabrecky has helped the Mules make two NCAA Tournaments, including advancing to last year’s “Sweet 16.”

This year, she has been an integral part of the Mules’ 7-0 start and No. 13 national ranking. Zabrecky, who ranks third in the conference in scoring, is the only Mule to reach double figures in every game this season.

According to Laney, what makes her such a solid player is her relentless hustle. And after playing against her in practice, she said she is really glad Zabrecky chose Muhlenberg.

“Alita is such a great player,” Laney said. “She goes all out on every play, even in practice. I don’t know how she doesn’t get tired; it’s amazing.

“Some of the things she can do are pretty amazing, and I’m really glad she’s on our team because we don’t have to worry about trying to stop her.”