BUENA VISTA, VA. – The Apprentice School opened the 2011 portion of its schedule on Saturday with a 56-42 loss at U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association rival Southern Virginia.

The host Knights held the lead throughout the contest.  Apprentice School tied the game twice, with the last one being on a Tamara Davis jumper for a 4-4 game with 17:51 left.  Southern Virginia pushed the lead to 25-18 on a Mina Romito 3-pointer with 3:37 left.  A late bucket from Ashley Johnson helped the Lady Builders cut the deficit to 25-20 at halftime.

In the second half, the Lady Builders got to within 29-25 on a Davis free throw with 14:24 left, but the Knights erupted on an 11-0 run over the next 2:22 with a Romito jumper putting SVU up 40-25 with 12:02 left.  From there, the Lady Builders cut the lead to as little as 10 points on a pair of Courtney Collins free throws with 3:21 left but that was as close as they got.

Leading the Lady Builders in scoring were Arynn Easom and Johnson with seven points each, while Romito topped SVU with 22 points.

Apprentice School will next see action on Thursday night in the 2011 Martin Luther King Classic when they host Rhema Bible College at 6 pm to start a four-day classic.