Villa Maria Upsets Brandywine In USCAA Quarterfinals 67-64

UNIONTOWN, Pa. -- Sixth-seeded Villa Maria College (N.Y.) opened the fourth quarter with a 10-1 run and staved off a late Penn State Brandywine surge, upsetting the third-seeded Lions in the quarterfinal round of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday night.

The teams played a back-and-forth first half which saw the lead change hands six times along with seven ties. Brandywine held the largest lead at six points after the Lions netted consecutive baskets by Brandi Johnson (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) and Alyssa Abbonizio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) to begin the second stanza.

Both teams made 5-of-19 shots from the field during the opening 10 minutes, but Brandywine managed to grab a 13-11 edge after the first quarter following Johnson's jumper with 29 seconds left to play.

Abbonizio's bucket made the score 17-11 early in the second; however, Villa Maria scored nine of the next 12 points, tying the game at 20-20 on Shaquana Owens' jumper at the 6:09 mark. The teams traded buckets over the next five minutes before Dominique Davis connected on a jumper and sank one-of-two free throws during the final 1:13 to hand the Vikings a 31-29 advantage at the break.

Chelsea Dent (Yeadon, Pa./Penn Wood) quickly tied the game with a layup 29 seconds into the second half, but Villa Maria answered with an 11-4 spurt to push its lead to seven points near the end of the stanza.

The Vikings led by six with 10 minutes to play and swelled their edge to 15 points by the 6:36 mark of the final quarter with a 10-1 surge. Johnson responded with a layup and Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) followed with a three-pointer, spurring a 10-0 run spanning 3:06 as the Lions closed the deficit to five points.

Davis ended the Lions' run with a layup, but Velez answered with two free throws to keep the deficit at five; however, Owens knocked down a triple to make the score 61-53 with 2:22 to play.

The Lions had one more rally left in the tank as Chrissy Gledhill (Secane, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) converted a three-point play to cut a 10-point deficit to seven with 36 second left. Brandywine pulled within six on Kendra Stanford's (Philadelphia, Pa./William Bodine) jumper and Gledhill made the score 66-61 with eight seconds left after draining two free throws, but Villa Maria made just enough of its free throws (3-6) down the stretch to hold off the Lions. A Gledhill triple as time expired provided the final margin.

Velez connected on a trio of three-pointers and led Brandywine with 13 points, while Gledhill and Dent both netted 11 points. Dent registered a double-double after hauling in a team-best 13 rebounds, while also collecting five assists and two steals.

Johnson chipped in eight points and Stanford added seven points and eight boards for the Lions, who held a 55-46 edge on the glass. Brandywine shot 32 percent from the field, while VMC connected on 38 percent of its field goal attempts.

Owens produced 22 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and four blocks to lead the Vikings. Villa Maria advanced to the national semifinals despite being limited to just three made triples on 21 attempts by the Lions.

Brandywine (21-8) faces Penn State Hazleton in a rematch of the PSUAC Championship game, which the Lions claimed by a 71-53 score just 11 days ago, on Friday afternoon (2:00 pm) in a consolation game.