NEWPORT NEWS, VA. -- The Apprentice School women's basketball team opened a new era on Friday night under first-year head coach Lanica Williams, but showed a lot of the same athleticism and pressure.
Freshman Tyisha Battle recorded a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Lady Builders closed the first half on a 19-5 run and forced 44 turnovers in route to a 78-54 victory over Morrisville State in the first night of the Great Ships Invitational.
Apprentice School will now face Lynchburg College in Saturday's 3 pm championship game. The Lady Hornets defeated Southern Virginia University 75-54 in the opening game.
Morrisville State hung around in the first half that saw four ties and four lead changes. The Mustangs took their biggest lead on an Ebony Whitfield layup with 7:23 left for an 18-14 advantage. A Battle free throw with 5:49 left brought Apprentice School back to even at 19-all. From that point, the Lady Builders closed the half on a 19-5 run capped by a Jessica Henderson jumper with 10 seconds left to take a 38-24 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, the Lady Builders opened on an 16-4 run to take their biggest lead of the night at 54-28 on a free throw from LaTorie Ford with 13:24 left. From that point, the lead never dropped below 17 points.
The Apprentice School resembled last year's squad in another way - balanced scoring. After Battle's 17, eight different players scored between six and eight points.
APPRENTICE SCHOOL 78, MORRISVILLE STATE 54
MORRISVILLE STATE (0-1): McKenzie 4-10 1-1 9, Powe 1-2 0-0 3, Pajack 2-5 0-0 4, Cikowski 0-0 1-2 1, Fowlston 0-0 0-0 0, Collins 5-8 0-2 12, Lewis 0-3 0-0 0, Whitfield 3-10 0-1 6, Pierce 7-11 1-4 16, Taveras 0-2 0-2 0, Kaufmann 0-5 2-2 2, Cole 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 22-56 6-16 54.
APPRENTICE SCHOOL (1-0): West 1-1 2-3 4, Jones 0-7 3-4 3, Lewter 2-11 3-4 7, Cooke 3-8 2-2 8, Battle 8-15 1-2 17, Morton 3-7 0-0 7, Ford 2-5 2-5 6, Gerald 1-2 3-4 6, Blow 3-4 0-0 6, Williams 3-5 1-3 7, Henderson 3-7 0-1 7. Totals 29-72 17-28 78.
Halftime: NNA 38-24. 3-point goals: Morrisville 4-11 (McKenzie 0-2, Powe 1-1, Collins 2-4, Lewis 0-1, Pierce 1-1, Taveras 0-2); NNA 3-12 (Jones 0-3, Lewter 0-2, Cooke 0-1, Morton 1-2, Gerald 1-1, Henderson 1-3). Rebounds: Morrisville 45 (Kaufmann 7); NNA 44 (Battle 10). Total fouls: Morrisville 20, NNA 18. Fouled out: Pajack. Assists: Morrisville 13 (Cikowski 5); NNA 17 (Ford 5). Technicals: Morrisville bench, Apprentice bench. Att.: 483.
