Brandywine Enters Break With Sixth-Straight Triumph

MEDIA, Pa. -- The Penn State Brandywine women's basketball closed out the first half of the season on a high note as the Lions rolled to their sixth-straight victory, besting Penn State Wilkes-Barre 69-48 on Friday night.

Brandywine scored the first eight points of the game and expanded the margin to 19-10 by the end of the first quarter. 

Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) knocked down a three-pointer to move the lead to double figures, while back-to-back layups from Velez and Amanda Floyd (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) gave Brandywine its biggest lead of the half at 32-14 with 4:50 left on the second quarter clock.

A quick start to the third period with a triple from Velez, along with five points from Floyd, during the first two minutes swelled the lead to 19 points. Wilkes-Barre got as close as 14 points down, but six-straight Brandywine points, capped by a layup by Ally Giannakarios (Brookhaven, Pa./Sun Valley) made the score 56-36 after 30 minutes.

Brandywine continued to roll, using consecutive baskets from Amelia Brooks (Springfield, Pa./Springfield), Hope Coacher (Ardmore, Pa./Haverford) and Kira Thorne (Alconbury, England/Alconbury) to create the largest margin of the night at 69-43.

Floyd and Madison D'Ambrosio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) both produced double-doubles as Floyd coupled 15 points with 10 rebounds and D'Ambrosio tallied 10 points, 12 boards and five assists. Velez added 12 points, while Brooks collected nine rebounds and scored six points.

Brandywine overcame 30 turnovers by holding a commanding 69-29 edge on the boards. The Lions pulled in 24 offensive boards, scoring 20 second-chance points.

Defensively, the Lions limited Wilkes-Barre to 27 percent shooting and 3-of-27 marksmanship from beyond the arc. Brandywine shot 41 percent from the floor.

Brandywine (8-3, 6-1 PSUAC) will return to action on Monday, January 6 at Immaculata.