Brandywine Rallies For Key PSUAC Victory Over Fayette

MEDIA, Pennsylvania – Penn State Brandywine overcame a 15-point deficit to claim a key PSUAC women's basketball victory over Penn State Fayette with a 78-67 triumph on Sunday afternoon.

Brandywine (10-5, 5-0) is the only remaining unbeaten team in the league, while Fayette dropped to 5-2 in conference play.

The Lions trailed by double figures with 6:46 to play, but started their comeback as Myeisha Matos (Philadelphia, Pa./JW Callahan) drained a jumper, igniting an 11-0 Brandywine run. Matos' bucket with 4:47 left to play brought the Lions within one and Melanie Kempf (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) followed with a layup on Brandywine's next possession to give the Lions their first lead since the opening minutes of half.

Stacey MacArthur (Newtown Square, Pa./Delco Christian) connected on a three-pointer to extend the lead to four, but Kaitlin Miller answered with a basket on Fayette's next possession to slice the deficit in half at the 3:17 mark.

However, MacArthur followed with another triple just 26 seconds later to give Brandywine a five-point edge. The Lions held Fayette without a point over the final three minutes and pulled away at the charity stripe, sinking  six free throws during the final 50 seconds.

MacArthur's four-point play gave Brandywine its only lead of the first half at 4-2 as Kelsey Laurine answered with a triple and Fayette steadily extended its lead over the next six minutes.

Brandywine was within two after 20 minutes, using a 7-1 spurt during the final 2:04 to make the score 36-34.

MacArthur knotted the score at 50-50 midway through the second half; however, Fayette opened up a double-lead with a 13-3 surge, capped by Jacky Halapy's jumper with 9:27 to play. Olivia Encarnacion (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) ended a three-minute scoreless stretch for Brandywine at the 7:41 mark before the Lions began their rally 60 seconds later.

Brandywine shot 33 percent from the field, but made nine three-pointers, including four from MacArthur. The Lions forced 28 turnovers, scoring 27 points off Fayette miscues.

MacArthur netted 20 points to pace Brandywine, while Matos registered a season-best 16 points and Lauren Munro (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) added 11, along with a team-high nine boards. Matos and MacArthur both collected four steals and Cashae Hinton (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) dished out seven assists.

Miller produced 16 points and 23 rebounds for Fayette, which made 35 percent of its shots from the field.

Brandywine begins a four-game road trip Saturday at Penn State Beaver (6:00 pm).