Nikki Velez
Nikki Velez

Velez Reaches 1,000 Points In Victory Over Mont Alto

MEDIA, Pa. -- Junior Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) reached a personal milestone, scoring the 1,000th point of her career during a 78-51 victory for the Penn State Brandywine women's basketball over Penn State Mont Alto on Friday night.

Velez registered the milestone point in the third quarter the same way she has tallied 507 of her career points: with a three-pointer. In all, Velez poured in career-best seven triples, while matching her career high with 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting. 

She is the ninth player in Brandywine women's basketball history to hit the 1,000-point mark for a career. Only Dana Johnson, the team's all-time leading scorer, accomplished the feat in fewer games (50) than Velez, who played in her 64th game Friday night. If Velez continues her current 15.5 point-per-game pace, she will pass Johnson's scoring record of 1,519 points late in her senior season. 

Brandywine built a 37-27 lead at the half and ran away during the final 20 minutes. Madison D'Ambrosio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) buried a jumper, starting a run of nine-straight Brandywine points to up the lead to 50-31 midway through the third quarter. A Velez triple increased the margin to 21 points at the end of the period.

Brandywine continued to roll during the final 10 minutes, using buckets from four different scorers during an 8-0 spurt that gave the Lions their biggest lead at 71-43 with 5:01 to go.

Brandi James (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) produced 16 points and nine rebounds for Brandywine, which shot 41 percent from the field, while Dana D'Ambrosio (Secane, Pa./Ridley) knocked down two of Brandywine's nine triples, scoring 11 points, and collected six steals.

Brandywine (4-4, 2-0 PSUAC) starts a three-game road trip Wednesday at Penn State Wilkes Barre (6:00 PM).