MEDIA, Pa. — The Penn State Brandywine women’s basketball team clinched its berth in the Penn State University Athletic Conference Tournament, while the Brandywine men’s team saw its bid for a spot in the tournament come to an end last week as each team played three league road games.
The Brandywine women will be playing in the tournament for the 11th consecutive season and have earned a top-four seed. The Lions, who went 2-1 last week, have reached the tournament semifinals each of the last 10 years.
Brandywine secured its spot in the tournament following a 76-64 victory at Penn State Mont Alto on Tuesday. The Lions led by just one point entering the fourth quarter, but pulled away by outscoring Mont Alto 24-13 over the final 10 minutes. Brandywine was aided by 32 Mont Alto turnovers and double-doubles from senior Chelsea Dent and sophomore Brandi James.
Brandywine had an opportunity to lock up a bye in the tournament with a victory at Penn State Hazleton; however the Lions were upended 75-61, falling into a tie for second place with Hazleton and Penn State Beaver with two conference losses. Brandywine rebounded by using an 11-3 run over the final four minutes to top Penn State Schuylkill 63-61 on Saturday, keeping pace with the other second-place teams.
Brandywine has two regular season game remaining: a Senior Night home game on Tuesday versus Penn State York and a trip to undefeated Penn State Lehigh Valley on Friday. If Brandywine, Hazleton and Beaver all win out this week, Brandywine will be the No. 2 seed via tiebreaker and receive a bye to the PSUAC semifinals. A loss in either game would likely send Brandywine to the No. 4 seed, meaning the Lions would host a quarterfinal game on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
The Brandywine men knew entering the week that they faced the tough task of needing to win their final five games to earn a spot in the PSUAC Tournament.
The team got the week started on a high note by winning in overtime at defending-PSUAC champion Mont Alto by a score of 81-75. Despite playing with just eight healthy players, Brandywine limited Mont Alto to three points during the extra session en route to the victory.
The Lions kept the momentum going on Friday with a blowout 93-70 victory at Hazleton. The 23-point margin of victory was the Lions’ largest in nearly three years. The result was never in doubt as Brandywine led wire-to-wire and never by fewer than 15 points in the second half.
However, Brandywine’s run came to an end on Saturday with a loss at Schuylkill. The Lions dropped a 91-77 decision, falling to 5-9 in the PSUAC.
Brandywine will play its final two games of the season this week. The Lions host York on Senior Day Tuesday before closing the season at Lehigh Valley on Friday night.
Complete box scores, recaps and updates for Penn State Brandywine athletics are posted at psubrandywineathletics.com.