Brandywine Holds Off Berkeley In Tournament Opener

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine built a 17-point lead and held off a late charge from Berkeley College, claiming a 60-56 women's basketball victory during the opening game of the Lions' home tournament late Friday night.

Brandywine owned a 17-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and pushed the lead to 14 points by halftime. The Lions held Berkeley without a field goal over the final 6:56 of the second period.

Leading 22-17 following a Berkeley layup, Brandywine embarked on a 10-0 run, aided by seven points from Amanda Floyd (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro). The Knights scored six of the next eight points, but Amelia Brooks (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) sent Brandywine into the locker room with a 14-point cushion by sinking a layup with 21 seconds to go in the half.

Brandywine continued to lead by double figures throughout the third period and opened up its largest lead of the night early in the fourth. Back-to-back three-pointers from Floyd and Anaiyah Allen (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner) made the count 54-37, but Berkeley came charging back during the game's final eight minutes.

Following Floyd's triple at the 8:01 mark, Brandywine was held without a made field goal until 74 seconds remained. Berkeley trimmed the Lions' lead to seven points before Floyd sank a layup with 1:14 to push the score to 60-51. The Knights netted five points during the game's final 14 seconds, but would get no closer.

Floyd led three double-figure scorers with 19 points and added six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Allen collected 12 points and six boards, while Sierra Diawara (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) tallied 12 points.

Brooks led Brandywine on the boards with 12 rebounds and Erin Michael (Brookhaven, Pa./Sun Valley) grabbed nine boards. Ally Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) chipped in eight rebounds, five assists and five steals.

The Lions forced 29 Berkeley turnovers and limited the Knights to 27 percent shooting.

Brandywine looks to start 3-0 for the first time since 2007 when it hosts the Community College of Philadelphia Saturday afternoon at 4:00 PM.