NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – Junior Denise Hamilton matched her career high with 19 points and tied her career best with five steals as the Apprentice school put on a wild second half rally but fell short losing 65-58 to Southern Virginia on Saturday.

The Knights used a 9-2 run early in the game to take a 9-4 advantage on a 3-pointer from Nicole Tolman with 15 minutes left.  The Lady Builders chipped away and pulled to within two points with 9:13 left as Christina Licano hit a jumper in the lane to make the score 14-12. 

SVU pulled away on a 9-0 run over the next 1:49 with a Mina Romito jumper putting them ahead 23-12 with 7:34 left. Apprentice School did tie the game with a 14-3 run of its own to tie the game 26-all on a free throw from Arynn Easom with 2:03 left.

To start the second half, Southern Virginia went on a 9-2 run to take a 40-30 lead on a Jasmin Johnson jumper with 15:18 left.  The Lady Builders clawed their way back into the game taking a 53-52 lead on a Tyisha Battle jumper with 3:11 left.  SVU responded with the next six points to lead 58-53 with 1:40 left on a Tolman baseline jumper.

The Lady Builders made one last attempt as Hamilton drained a 3-pointer from the right wing with 30 seconds left cutting the lead down to 60-58, but SVU made 5-of-6 from the line in the last 29 seconds to ice the win.

Battle recorded another double-double with 10 points and 12 rebound, while freshman Danita Whitaker just missed a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds for Apprentice School.  SVU was paced by Romito with 21 points and Cara Joyner who had 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Apprentice School (13-8) now travels to Takoma Park, Md. to face Washington Adventist University on Saturday night in a 6:30 pm tipoff.