NEWPORT NEWS, VA.—Three Christina Licano free throws in the final 19 seconds proved to be the difference as the Apprentice School closed out its action in the Martin Luther King Jr. Classic by defeating Robert Morris-Springfield 76-74 on Saturday night.
Apprentice School (11-5) entered the game ranked fifth in the latest U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association Coaches Poll, while Robert Morris Springfield (11-7) was ranked fourth. The Lady Builders went 3-0 in the tournament while Robert Morris will face Bennett on Sunday at noon.
The Lady Builders held a 19-13 lead after a Courtney Collins layup with 11:37 left in the first half. Robert Morris Springfield scored seven of the next eight points cutting that lead to 21-20 on a layup from Eunice Gill at the 7:43 mark. From there, Apprentice School closed the half on a 20-6 run, with 10 of those coming unanswered from the Eagles, to take a 41-26 halftime advantage on a jumper from Danita Whitaker.
In the second half, Apprentice School struck quickly from long-range as Tysheka Simpson drained a 3-pointer 23 seconds into the half to take its largest lead at 44-26. The Eagles cranked up from there and cut that lead to nine points on three occasions over the next 12 minutes with the last coming on a Gill layup with 7:59 left for a 62-53 Apprentice advantage.
The Lady Builders pushed the lead back to 14 on a Tamara Davis 3-point play with 5:04 left to lead 69-55. Robert Morris had one last run in them as they outscored the Lady Builders 15-4 over the next 4:44 as Ashley Beal hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead down to 73-70 with 20 seconds left.
Licano was fouled on the inbounds pass and calmly drained a pair of free throws before Gill hit a driving jumper with 12 seconds left to make it 75-72. Once again Licano was fouled and hit the front end before missing the back with 10 seconds left. Megan Smith followed up a missed layup from Gill with one second left to cut the lead to 76-74. Apprentice School got the ball inbounds to end the game.
Simpson and Denise Hamilton scored 14 points to lead the Lady Builders, while Tyisha Battle added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Danita Whitaker just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds and Licano also had nine points and five assists.
Robert Morris was paced by Gill with a game-high 32 points and nine rebounds, while Beal and Jorita Wright added 13 apiece with Wright joining the double-double club with 10 rebounds.
Apprentice School now hits the Big Apple for a pair of games in New York next weekend starting with St. Joseph's-Brooklyn on Saturday night at 7 pm.