Brandywine Edges Rosemont 78-72

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine outscored Rosemont 28-20 during the fourth quarter and held on to edge the Ravens 78-72 to earn the team's second-straight victory on Saturday afternoon.

Brandywine forced 24 Rosemont turnovers and put four players in double-figure scoring. Eight of the nine players in action for the Lions recorded at least one steal, including Kendra Stanford (Philadelphia, Pa./William Bodine), who notched a team-best five.

Brandi James (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) topped the Lions with a career-high 17 points and eight rebounds, while Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) netted 11 of her 14 points during the second half. Stanford added 13 points, along with four rebounds, and Chelsea Dent (Yeadon, Pa./Penn Wood) notched 11 points and six boards.

Brandywine was limited to just three made field goals during the opening quarter, but used free throws to keep the game within one possession for nearly the entire stanza. Dent sank a pair of shots from the charity stripe with two seconds remaining in the quarter to make the score 13-12 in favor of Rosemont after one.

The Ravens slowly increased their lead during the first seven minutes of the second quarter, pushing the edge to seven on Ke'alohilani Naone-Carter's layup with 3:19 to go before halftime. The Lions battled back with eight-straight points to end the quarter as Stanford converted a three-point play and James followed with a bucket. Velez buried a triple to give the Lions a 30-29 halftime edge.

The teams traded the lead six times during the third quarter with neither team leading by more than three points at any time. After claiming a one-point lead at the end of the third, Rosemont pushed its edge to six behind seven-straight points from Ke'alohilani Naone-Carter and Leilani Naone-Carter.

James answered with a layup and Madison D'Ambrosio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) followed with a triple to bring Brandywine within one with seven minutes to play. Sixty seconds later, Velez canned a three-pointer to knot the score at 61-61.

Dent's jumper at the 4:43 mark gave Brandywine the lead and the Lions would push it to five on Stanford's layin two minutes later.

Tahkeema Evans connected on a three-pointer with 26 seconds to play, bringing the Ravens to within one at 71-70, but Velez and James both sank two free throws and Stanford capped the victory with a three-point play as Brandywine held on for the victory.

Brandywine shot 38 percent (29-76) from the field, while Rosemont made 39 percent of its field goal attempts (29-74). The Ravens, who held a 56-45 edge on the boards, received 14 points and 17 rebounds from Leilani Naone-Carter.

Brandywine (2-3) hits the road on Thursday for a 7:00 pm tip-off at Central Penn.