Brandywine Secures No. 1 Seed On Senior Night

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine left no doubt which team would be the No. 1 seed in next week's Penn State University Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament as the Lions celebrated Senior Night by blowing past Penn State Lehigh Valley 92-64 on Friday during the team's regular-season finale.

Brandywine (19-6, 13-1 PSUAC), the defending conference champion, will host both the men's and women's semifinal and championship games next Saturday and Sunday inside the Commons Gym. Lehigh Valley will be the No. 2 seed after being swept by the Lions in two games this season.

Brandywine shot the lights out from the start, burying 8-of-9 three-pointers during the first quarter en route to opening up a 36-20 lead through 10 minutes. The Lions knocked down 16 triples on 28 attempts overall. Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) buried six triples, scoring 23 points, while Chrissy Gledhill (Secane, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) and Madison D'Ambrosio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) each connected on four three-pointers. D'Ambrosio poured in 17 points and Gledhill added 14 points.

Nicolette Napoleon (Springfield, Pa./Penn Charter) just missed a triple-double after tallying 14 points (7-8 FG), nine assists and eight rebounds. Crystal Miller (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington) added 10 points and eight boards, while Kendra Stanford (Philadelphia, Pa./William Bodine) produced eight points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Brandywine fell behind 2-0, but wasted no time in taking over the game from there as Gledhill drilled three-straight triples in a span of 48 seconds. Velez upped the Lions' lead to 22-6 midway through the quarter with a three-pointer and Gledhill closed out the stanza with her fourth trifecta, upping the advantage to 16 points.

Lehigh Valley pulled as close as 12 points during the second quarter, but Velez countered with a three. Both Napoleon and Miller netted four points during the final six minutes of the quarter to help Brandywine to a 48-34 edge at the break.

Lehigh Valley hung around during the third quarter until back-to-back Velez triples and a Gledhill steal and layup jumpstarted a 13-2 run that would put the game away for the Lions. Brandywine did not relent during the final quarter as D'Ambrosio, Napoleon and Velez combined for 19 points on 8-of-8 shooting.

Brandywine shot 49 percent from the field and recorded 26 assists on 36 made baskets, while forcing 26 Lehigh Valley turnovers.

Brandywine will learn its semifinal opponent following Wednesday night's quarterfinal round. The Lions will host their opponent at a time that will be determined this week on Saturday, Feb. 17.