MEDIA, Pa. — Penn State Brandywine basketball season is in full swing with both teams opening Penn State University Athletic Conference play last week. Both teams got the week started with non-conference games before hosting a PSUAC doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
The Brandywine women’s squad extended its winning streak to three games with an 80-43 victory at Central Penn on Wednesday. The Lions opened up a 24-point halftime lead and cruised to the finish with their biggest margin of victory of the season.
Freshman Nikki Velez, the team’s leading scorer, netted 21 points and added six assists, five rebounds and four steals, while sophomore Brandi James contributed 18 points and eight rebounds.
Velez also led the Lions in scoring with 18 points during a 76-55 home setback to Penn State Lehigh Valley on Saturday. Freshman Kendra Stanford produced the first double-double of her career with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Brandywine trailed by only five points after one quarter, but Lehigh Valley took advantage of a cold stretch for the Lions during the second stanza and opened up a 21-point lead by the half. Brandywine did not get closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
The Brandywine men dropped a trio of games last week. The Lions suffered a non-conference road loss at Widener on Monday and were defeated in PSUAC home games on Wednesday and Saturday.
Widener built a nine-point lead by halftime and used a late run to pull away from Brandywine. Junior James Fisher paced the Lions with 14 points off the bench.
Against Schuylkill, Brandywine started the game with a 9-0 run and eventually led by as many as 11 points before Schuylkill responded with a 21-0 surge to end the first half. Brandywine saw four players reach double-figure scoring led by freshman Isaiah Wilmore, who posted 17 points.
The Lions fought Lehigh Valley in a game that went back-and-forth throughout the second half. The final 20 minutes featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes before a late 9-0 Lehigh Valley spurt helped the visitors claim an 8-378 triumph.
Brandywine trailed by as many as 13 points during the first half before rallying to grab a six-point edge midway through the second stanza. A trio of freshmen fueled the comeback as Wilmore, Shafi Mohammad and Pat Gallagher combined for 37 points.
Both teams play their final two games this week before a break for finals with road games at Penn State York on Tuesday and Penn State Scranton on Friday.
Complete box scores, recaps and updates for Penn State Brandywine athletics are posted at psubrandywineathletics.com.