Brandywine Bests Schuylkill; Winning Streak Hits 12 Games

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine ran its winning streak to 12 games on Saturday afternoon as the Lions bested Penn State Schuylkill 78-64 at home in Penn State University Athletic Conference women's basketball action. Brandywine's 12-game streak in one shy of the school record set in 2006-07.

Brandywine fell behind early, but Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) knocked down three triples in a span of less than two minutes to push Brandywine in front 16-12. The Lions closed the first quarter with a flurry, netting three baskets during the final 30 seconds. Kendra Stanford (Philadelphia, Pa./William Bodine) sank a layup and Crystal Miller (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington) followed with two more, including a put back just before the buzzer, to make the margin 24-14 after 10 minutes.

Brandywine continued to pour it on in the second quarter as Alyssa Abbonizio's (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) jumper stretched the advantage to 13 points with six minutes to go before halftime. Schuylkill closed within eight, but four free throws, two each from Velez and Madison D'Ambrosio (Springfield, Pa./Springfield), upped the edge to 43-28 at the break.

Velez began the third period by knocking down back-to-back triples, pushing the score to 49-30, and Brandywine's lead moved to 20 points for the first time when Stanford sank a layup early in the final quarter. The Lions maintained their 20-point edge late into the fourth period.

Velez canned five three-pointers and 6-of-12 shots overall (4-4 FT), scoring a game-high 21 points, while Miller produced 14 points and 14 rebounds. Stanford added 13 points and seven boards.

Brandywine shot 40 percent from the field and connected on eight triples, while Schuylkill made 37 percent of its shots from the floor, but hit only 2-of-8 three-point tries.

Brandywine (18-5, 12-0 PSUAC) plays on the road for the final time this season Tuesday at Penn State York (6:00 pm).