Brandywine Too Much For Wilkes Barre In 55-45 Victory

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine forced 30 Penn State Wilkes Barre turnovers during a 55-44 Penn State University Athletic Conference women's basketball triumph on Monday night, pushing the Lions' winning streak to nine games, their longest such streak since the 2012-13 season.

Twenty-two of Wilkes Barre's turnovers came during the opening half as Brandywine established a 20-point lead at the break.

Wilkes Barre netted the first basket of the game, but Brandywine responded with a 9-1 run, which started with the first of Nikki Velez' (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) five three-pointers. 

Brandywine led by eight points after one quarter and continued to expand its lead by scoring 11-straight points during a 7:41 span of the first and second quarters. Velez also buried a triple to open the second stanza and Chelsea Dent (Yeadon, Pa./Penn Wood) followed with a pair of layups for the Lions, who ran out to a 35-15 lead through 20 minutes.

The Lions limited Wilkes Barre to one made field goal during the third quarter, swelling the lead to 25 points, but Wilkes Barres outscored Brandywine 22-7 over the final 10 minutes to provide the final margin.

Velez topped all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting (5-7 3PT), while Kendra Stanford (Philadelphia, Pa./William Bodine) added eight points, four rebounds and four steals. Brandi James (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) grabbed a team-high five boards and Dent collected six points, three assists and three steals.

Brandywine shot 37 percent from the field, while limiting Wilkes Barre to 30 percent shooting. Amari Boyd's 12-point, 10 rebound double-double paced Wilkes Barre. 

Brandywine (12-4, 5-1 PSUAC) heads to Pittsburgh for a two-game trip beginning Friday at Penn State Beaver (6:00 pm).