Brandywine Deals Beaver First PSUAC Loss; Pushes Winning Streak To 10

MONACA, Pa. -- After scoring just 22 first-half points, Penn State Brandywine erupted for 29 third-quarter points and pulled away for a 69-58 victory on Friday night, handing Penn State Beaver its first Penn State University Athletic Conference women's basketball loss of the season.

With the victory, Brandywine (13-4, 6-1 PSUAC) pulled into a tie with Beaver and Hazleton for second place in the league as each team has one conference loss. The Lions also ended Beaver's 15-game home, conference winning streak, a run that began following a loss to Brandywine on Jan. 24, 2014.

Brandywine held a 14-10 lead after one quarter, but Beaver outscored the Lions 14-8 over the next 10 minutes to bring a 24-22 edge into the halftime break.

Brandywine found the range from the field in the third quarter, however, hitting on five of its first six shots from the field. After Chelsea Dent's (Yeadon, Pa./Penn Wood) layup tied the game, Brandi James (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) drained a pair of free throws to give the Lions the lead.

The advantage grew to seven for Brandywine following two Dent free throws with 6:23 to go in the stanza and the Lions used a 15-4 run over the third quarter's final six minutes to swell the margin to 16 points. Dent, Kendra Stanford (Philadelphia, Pa./William Bodine) and Alyssa Abbonnizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) sank consecutive layups, while Madison D'Ambrosio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) and Ali Wilson (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Hubert's) teamed to score Brandywine's final 10 points of the quarter.

Brandywine continued to pull away from Beaver early in the fourth quarter, pushing the edge as large as 20 points on James' jumper at the 7:26 mark. Beaver answered with an 11-0 run, but Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) ended the Lions' dry spell with a three-point play and James added a layup as Brandywine's lead again reached double figures during the final minutes.

James and Velez each poured in 17 points, while Stanford added nine points and five rebounds. James topped the team with eight boards and Velez collected a game-best six steals and four assists.

Wilson contributed eight points, while D'Ambrosio pulled down six rebounds for Brandywine, which shot 52 percent from the field in the second half. The Lions held a 30-24 advantage on the boards and limited Beaver to 40 percent shooting.

The Lions, winners of 10 consecutive games, look to extend their longest winning streak in six years to 11 games on Saturday when they visit Penn State Greater Allegheny at 1:00 pm.