UNIONTOWN, PA. – The Apprentice School Lady Builders jumped out to an early lead and held off a late rally from Penn State Brandywine to take a 77-69 decision in the seventh-place game of the USCAA Nationals on Friday morning.

After spotting Penn State Brandywine an early 2-0 lead, the Lady Builders went on a 17-2 run over the next 6:49 to take a 17-4 lead on a Denise Hamilton layup with 13:01 left.  Brandywine cut the lead to five on three different occasions in the first half, the last being at 26-21 on a Sarah deBerardinis 3-pointer with 7:37 left. Apprentice School closed the half on a 16-9 spurt to lead 42-30 on a pair of Danita Whitaker free throws with 17 seconds left.

In the second half, Apprentice School opened on a 15-5 run in the first 4:28 to lead 57-35 on a layup from Tyisha Battle.  Brandywine scored the next seven points, but the Lady Builders responded pushing the lead back to 22 points at the 9:59 mark on another Battle layup. 

Apprentice School couldn't put Brandywine away as they slowly worked their way back into the contest closing that deficit to 75-69 on a pair of Cashae Hinton free throws with 29 seconds left.  Christina Licano matched those with a pair of her own with nine seconds left for the final margin.

Battle, the lone senior on the Lady Builder squad, closed out her career with a 21 point, eight rebound performance to lead Apprentice School (18-9).  Hamilton added 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals, while Whitaker added 12 points and nine rebounds.