Phoenixville, PA – The University of Valley Forge Women's Basketball team played host to the Knights of Neumann University on Saturday afternoon. The Patriots celebrated Senior day by honoring two 4-year seniors: Jhanel Brown and Lindsay Lesueur.  

Offensively the Patriots were led by senior Jhanel Brown (Westmoreland, VA) with 29 points and 16 rebounds.  Sophomore Amaya Brown (Trenton, NJ) had 11 points and 6 assists while junior Carlee Conrad (Pine grove, PA) also had 11 points. 

Both teams were tied at 6 midway through the first quarter until the Knights went on a 9-0 run to lead 15-6 with 2:00 minutes remaining in the period.  Neumann held the 9-point advantage as both teams entered the second frame.  The Knights were able to stretch their lead over UVF thanks to a 7-0 scoring run.  Down by 17, the Patriots needed to close the gap on the scoreboard before the half.  Valley Forge managed to cut the deficit to 13 when Alea Flowers knocked down a trey and Amaya Brown split 1 of 2 free throws.  The Patriots were down at the half by a score of 36-23.

The Knights came into the third quarter and looked like they had every intention of putting the game away early.  The quarter belonged to Neumann.  NU jumped out to an 18-point lead as the quarter came to a close.  Valley Forge found themselves down 53-35.

Being down by 18 and making a comeback with only 10:00 minutes left in the contest is no easy task.  The Patriots however, had two big runs in them.  The 4th quarter started just the way Valley Forge needed it to.  Carlee Conrad buried a three and Jhanel Brown did was she does best. Brown grabbed a rebound and put the ball back up and in to cut the Knight lead to 13.  After the Knights answered with a 5-0 run, the Patriots began to settle in a feed their leading scorer.  Jhanel Brown reeled off 6 straight points from inside the paint and after a pair of free throws and another Jhanel Brown basket, the Patriots narrowed the Neumann lead to 7.  The Knights answered right back by using a 6-1 run to push their lead back to double-digits.  With just under 3:00 minutes left in the ball game, Valley Forge started to attack the basket.  In the next minute, Carlee Conrad was able to sink five free throws and make a layup to bring the Patriots to within 5.  UVF then got a big block from Jhanel Brown on the defensive end of the floor.  Carlee Conrad rewarded the 6-2 senior by finding her inside for an easy bucket on the ensuing Patriot possession.  Suddenly, UVF had erased a once 20-point deficit to just 3 with .53 seconds on the clock.  Valley Forge had a difficult time stopping Neumann's Nafisa Saunders.  Saunders was able to seal the game for the Knights when she would make a layup and complete the and 1 opportunity.  The Patriots incredible comeback fell just short as the Patriots lost by a final score of 72-68.