Brandywine Tops York Behind Strong Defensive Effort

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine forced 19 first-half turnovers in building an eight-point halftime lead and continued its solid defensive performance throughout the second half to defeat Penn State York 57-45 in PSUAC women's basketball action Tuesday night.

The Lions trailed 13-5 early, but Dairayonna Stewart-Harold (New Castle, Del./William Penn) grabbed a pair of steals and converted two fast-break layups, while Amanda Floyd (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) set down a put-back layup to fuel an 8-0 Brandywine run that tied the score.

The visitors took a two-point lead after the opening 10 minutes; however, the second quarter belonged to Brandywine. The Lions outscored York 14-4, netting the final 10 points of the stanza to grab a 27-19 edge. Stewart-Harold, Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) and Erin Michael (Brookhaven, Pa./Sun Valley) tallied consecutive baskets before Velez added two points from the free throw line. Floyd capped the second-quarter surge by sinking a fast-break layup just before the horn.

York trimmed the deficit to just five, but Brandywine closed the third quarter with eight of the final 10 points, including four from Michael, to bring a 43-33 edge into the final period.

The Lions continued their run, upping it to 13-2, behind a Floyd three-pointer and Madison D'Ambrosio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) bucket to start the fourth quarter. Despite being held without a point for the next five minutes, Brandywine never let York get closer than 10 down the rest of the way and Floyd put the game out reach by sinking her second triple with 1:18 to go.

Floyd and Velez paced the offense as each scored 15 points, while Stewart-Harold added eight and D'Ambrosio chipped in seven. The duo of Velez (5) and Floyd (4) combined for nine of the Lions' 16 steals. 

Brandywine held a 43-38 edge on the boards led by Floyd's nine rebounds. Velez pulled eight boards, while D'Ambrosio and Ginamarie McNamee (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) each collected seven. The Lions limited York to 30 percent shooting (18-60), including 4-of-19 marksmanship from beyond the arc.

Brandywine (17-7, 13-4 PSUAC) can clinch the No. 1 seed from the PSUAC East Division with a victory at Penn State Mont Alto during the regular-season finale on Friday at 6:00 pm. A win would also give Brandywine 18 victories for the eighth-straight year.