Lions Cap Regular Season With Triumph At Trinity

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Penn State Brandywine women's basketball team edged Trinity College (D.C.) 66-63, ending the regular season with a victory Friday night at the Trinity Center.

Stacey MacArthur (Newtown Square, Pa./Delco Christian) sank the go-ahead bucket with 2:33 to play and then iced the game from the charity stripe, draining a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining. MacArthur, the Lions' leading scorer, poured in a game-high 18 points, while collecting five rebounds and four steals.

Olivia Encarnacion (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Lauren Munro (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) pulled down a team-best six boards, while contributing eight points and three steals.

Brandywine ran out to a 9-2 lead and led by as many as nine points during the opening 10 minutes. Trinity fought back with an 18-3 run, taking its first lead since the early stages of the game following Ameyna Saunders-Jack's jumper at the 5:11 mark.

Chrissy Gledhill (Secane, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) halted the run with a three-pointer and then connected on another triple to tie the score at 30-30. Jilly Gledhill (Secane, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) followed with a three, giving Brandywine a 33-32 halftime lead.

Encarnacion, MacArthur and Munro combined to score the first 12 points of the second half as the Lions raced out to a 45-32 lead.

Myesha Green sank a pair of free throws to jump start an 11-4 spurt for Trinity and then capped the run with a three-pointer to bring the Tigers within two points at the 7:37 mark.

Shelby Swann drained a free throw to knot the score at 60-60 and Blessing Hayes followed with a bucket to put the Tigers in front, but Alyssa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) quickly answered with a layup for Brandywine to retie the score with 2:58 to play.

25 seconds later, MacArthur put Brandywine in the lead for good with a lay in and then knocked down two free throws with three ticks left on the clock for the final three-point margin.

Brandywine shot 43 percent from the field and forced 37 turnovers, scoring 24 points off Tiger miscues.

Hayes recorded 17 points and 14 rebounds for Trinity.

Brandywine, which claimed the PSUAC regular-season title, will make its ninth consecutive appearance in the PSUAC Tournament semifinals on Saturday, February 21 at 3:00 pm against an opponent still to be determined. The first 300 fans in attendance will receive a Brandywine White Out t-shirt.