Brandywine Pulls Away From Bryn Athyn For First Win

ASTON, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine outscored Bryn Athyn College 26-8 over a nearly 10-minute segment of the second half to break open the game and earn the Lions' first women's basketball victory of the season by a 64-41 margin on Sunday afternoon in the consolation game of the Neumann University Tournament.

Brandi James' (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) free throw with eight seconds remaining gave Brandywine a one-point edge after one quarter and the Lions would push the lead to nine at the half after scoring 18 of the game's 29 points during the second stanza.

Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) buried a pair of three-pointers during the first 92 seconds of the second quarter, extending the Lions' advantage to 20-12. The margin was as large as 13 points following Alyssa Abbonizio's (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) triple with 3:23 to go before the half, but Bryn Athyn netted the final four points to make the score 30-21 at the game's midway point.

Limited to just four points over the opening eight minutes of the second half, Brandywine used four free throws and layups by James and Crystal Miller (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington) to net eight points in a 1:34 span, ballooning their lead from eight points to 14 in the process.

Brandywine continued to surge in the fourth quarter, holding Bryn Athyn to one made field goal during the first 8:31 of the final period. The Lions poured in 18 points during that time as the lead reached its largest margin at 26 points following a pair of free throws from Chantel Hatton (Philadelphia, Pa./Chester) with 3:37 to play.

Velez, who was named to the all-tournament team, produced 15 points, six steals and three assists, while James tallied 12 points, nine rebounds and four steals.

Miller and Abbonizio both recorded nine points for Brandywine, which saw six players grab at least four rebounds, and Chrissy Gledhill (Secane, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) added seven points, four rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.

Brandywine (1-2) rounds out its season-opening four-game road trip Tuesday at Immaculata (6:00 pm).