Ginamarie McNamee
Ginamarie McNamee

Second-Half Surge Lifts Brandywine Over Bryn Athyn

BRYN ATHYN, Pa. – Penn State Brandywine used a 32-11 surge spanning two quarters to defeat Bryn Athyn 64-57 and earn its first women's basketball victory of the season on Monday night.

Trailing 38-28 with 3:54 to play in the third quarter, Brandywine outscored Bryn Athyn 17-6 during the remainder of the period to grab a 45-44 edge after 30 minutes. Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) got the run started with a three-pointer and Madison D'Ambrosio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) tacked on back-to-back triples during the spurt.

The Lions took their first lead since late in the opening quarter when Amanda Floyd (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) sank two free throws with eight seconds to go before the third quarter horn.

Allie Warren buried a three-pointer for Bryn Athyn to start the fourth period, but the next six minutes belonged to the Lions, who outscored the hosts 15-2 to take control of the game. Ginamarie McNamee (Aston, Pa./Interboro) contributed seven points during the Lions' fourth-quarter surge, while Hope Coacher's (Ardmore, Pa./Haverford) put-back layup jumpstarted the run. Coacher's bucket at the 3:57 mark gave Brandywine its biggest lead of the game at 60-49.

D'Ambrosio topped the Lions with 16 points and added four rebounds and two blocks, while Velez tacked on 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Coacher and McNamee both just missed producing a double-double as Coacher tallied eight points and 10 boards and McNamee coupled 11 points with nine rebounds. The trio of Coacher, D'Ambrosio and McNamee combined for 25 of Brandywine's 38 second-half points.

Floyd collected five of Brandywine's 12 steals, while scoring nine points. Four of Floyd's thefts came during the second half for Brandywine, which used its defense to take over the game. The Lions forced 17 second-half turnovers and limited BAC to 1-of-10 marksmanship from beyond the arc.

Brandywine (1-1) opens Penn State University Athletic Conference play Tuesday at Penn State Hazleton (6:00 pm).