Brandywine Tops York 60-54; Earns First PSUAC Victory

YORK, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine evaded a fourth-quarter rally from Penn State York as the Lions evened their overall record at 4-4, while also claiming their first Penn State University Athletic Conference women's basketball victory with a 60-54 triumph on Tuesday night.

The Lions held a 13-point edge, their largest of the night, after Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) buried a three-pointer with 2:16 to play in the third quarter and led by double figures entering the final quarter.

York used an 8-1 run to climb within three at the 7:46 mark and trailed by only two after Emily Colon connected on a jumper 66 seconds later. Chrissy Gledhill (Secane, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) answered with a triple for Brandywine and with 2:16 to go in regulation, she pushed the Lions' edge to seven with a jumper.

After a Velez free throw made the Brandywine edge six points with under one minute remaining, Karra Thomason converted a three-point play to cut York's deficit in half; however, Velez and Chelsea Dent (Yeadon, Pa./Penn Wood) combined to sink three free throws and Brandywine forced a pair of York turnovers during the final 20 seconds to help Brandywine secure the victory.

Velez posted 12 points, four rebounds and four steals, while Brandi James (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) led Brandywine with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Gledhill added 13 points and Nicolette Napoleon (Springfield, Pa./Penn Charter) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

The Lions held York to 27 percent shooting, including a 2-for-18 mark from beyond the arc. Colon paced York with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Brandywine (4-4, 1-1 PSUAC) faces Penn State Scranton Friday at 6:00 pm in its final game before a 20-day layoff for finals and the holidays.