Brandywine Rallies To Earn First Victory

MORRISTOWN, N.J. -- Penn State Brandywine trailed for the first 30 minutes before outscoring the College of St. Elizabeth 25-12 in the fourth quarter to gain its first victory of the season in non-conference women's basketball action on Monday night.

The Lions (1-3) fell behind by double figures late in the first half, but narrowed the margin to one point following two made free throws from Nicolette Napoleon (Springfield, Pa./Penn Charter) with seven seconds to go in the third period.

Madison D'Ambrosio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) sank back-to-back baskets during the first 28 seconds of the final quarter to give Brandywine its first lead of the game at 54-52.

Four minutes later and holding a one-point lead, Dana D'Ambrosio's (Secane, Pa./Ridley) layup sparked a long Brandywine run that would put the game away for the Lions. That basket started a 17-2 surge over the next four minutes as Brandywine raced away with the double-digit victory. Dana D'Ambrosio, Madison D'Ambrosio, Brandi James (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) and Nikki Velez (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester) combined to score all 25 of the Lions' points during the fourth quarter comeback and 38 of Brandywine's 46 second-half points.

In all, Brandywine's starting five contributed 66 points and 43 rebounds as James (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Madison D'Ambrosio (12 points, 12 rebounds) both collected double-doubles and Dana D'Ambrosio added 16 points, while Velez chipped in 14 points. Napoleon tallied four points, seven boards and a team-best three assists.

Brandywine held a 48-34 edge on the boards and forced 25 St. Elizabeth turnovers. The Lions also trekked to the free throw line 34 times, sinking 26, while the Eagles connected on just 14-of-27 attempts from the charity stripe.

Brandywine returns to its home floor Saturday afternoon for a 1:00 pm non-conference game against Immaculata.