Brandywine Begins USCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Run Thursday Night
UNIONTOWN, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine will make its fourth all-time appearance at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday evening when the third-seeded Lions begin their quest for a national title against No. 6 Villa Maria in a quarterfinal matchup at 7:30 pm.
Brandywine reached the USCAA Tournament by earning the automatic bid from the PSUAC following the Lions' 71-53 conference tournament championship victory over Penn State Hazleton on Feb. 19. The Lions ended the year with victories in 21 of their final 25 games and matched the 2010-11 PSUAC champion squad with a program-record 21 wins this winter.
Led by freshman Nikki Velez, who was named First Team All-American by the USCAA on Tuesday and PSUAC Newcomer of the Year last week, Brandywine claimed its first conference title since 2010-11 and will be playing at the national level for the first time since 2012-13.
During its three previous trips to the USCAA Tournament, Brandywine owns a pair of victories, including a 48-45 triumph over St. Mary of the Woods in its first-ever national tournament game on March 3, 2010. The Lions reached the national semifinals in 2010 before falling to eventual-national champion Talladega College.
Villa Maria (17-8) is playing its second season of varsity women's basketball and will be making its first appearance at the USCAA Tournament. The Vikings are led by Shaquana Owens and Armoni Jordan, who both rank in the top five nationally in scoring.
While Brandywine and Villa Maria have never met on the basketball court, the teams did have two common opponents this season. Brandywine defeated both SUNY Canton and Penn State Beaver, while the Vikings topped SUNY Canton twice and dropped a 69-54 decision to Beaver.
The winner of Thursday night's game advances to the national semifinals on Friday at 9:00 pm against either Penn State Lehigh Valley or Albany College of Pharmacy. The national championship game will be played Saturday at a time still to be determined.
Fans can follow the Lions during the tournament with live stats and video. Links can be found on the women's basketball schedule page at www.psubrandywineathletics.com.
