NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – Senior Denise Hamilton scored a career-high 21 points and junior Jasmine Pringle added 12 as the Apprentice School defeated Bennett College 68-55 in a U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association matchup on Saturday afternoon.
The win gave the Lady Builders their 20th victory on the year against just one defeat. It also extended a school-record home court winning streak to 14 games dating back almost one year to the day as Southern Virginia defeated the Lady Builders on Feb. 5, 2011 by a 65-58 count.
Apprentice School jumped out quickly scoring the first 10 points in just over three minutes as Courtney Collins hit a pair of free throws with 16:41 left to take a 10-0 lead. Bennett clawed their way back outscoring the Lady Builders 11-5 over the next nearly six minutes to cut that margin to 15-11 on a Dominique Walker jumper with 10:52 left.
That was as close as Bennett got on the day as the Lady Builders erupted to close the half on a 23-8 run as a Tamara Davis jumper with 10 seconds left gave the hosts a 38-19 halftime advantage. Davis, Christina Licano and Jasmine Pringle had six points each in that run to close the half.
In the second half, the lead grew to 28 points on two occasions as Hamilton's layup with 6:31 left put Apprentice School up 64-36. Bennett showed some spark closing the game outscoring the Lady Builders 19-4, but the hosts had built enough of an advantage for the victory.
The Lady Builders hit 50% from the floor on the game (26-of-52) and out-rebounded the Belles 48-31. Shanae Hilliard and Danita Whitaker topped the Lady Builders on the glass with nine each, while Ashley Johnson chipped in with six. Bennett (7-9) was paced by Janay Walker with 24 points and Tianna Bennett with 20.
Apprentice School now goes on the road to New York next weekend to face a pair of nationally-ranked USCAA opponents starting with #6-Briarcliffe College on Feb. 11 at 6 pm. The next afternoon they'll take on #14-Berkeley College at 1 pm.