FINAL SCORE: Apprentice School 75, Southern Virginia 58

RECORDS: Apprentice School 1-0, Southern Virginia 0-1

LOCATION: The Barn/Buena Vista, Va.

IN BRIEF: Senior Courtney Collins scored 18 points to lead three in double figures on Friday night as the Apprentice School used a 21-2 run in the first half to score a 75-58 win over Southern Virginia University on Friday night.  The win gave first-year head coach Keith Stagg his first collegiate victory.

A pair of Morgan Hartvigsen free throws with 14:52 left in the first half brought the hosts to within five points at 8-3.  That was the last points for SVU over the next 8:20 as the Lady Builders scored the next 14 to take a 22-3 lead on a Collins layup with 7:45 left. A Crystal Cleveland layup stopped that drought with 6:32 left before the Lady Builders scored the next seven points as Collins had two free throws with 3:48 left for a 29-5 lead.

In the second half, the lead grew to as much as 34 points on a Danita Whitaker layup with 8:43 left to take a 67-33 advantage.  The Lady Knights closed the game on a 25-8 run to cut that margin in half.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Senior Danita Whitaker recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds going 8-for-11 from the floor.
• With her 16 points tonight, Whitaker went over the 700 career point mark as she now has 704.
• Junior Shanae Hilliard added 14 points while going 2-for-3 from 3-point range.
• Sophomore Kenya Wilkerson had a stat-sheet stuffing game with nine points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.
• The Lady Builders out-rebounded SVU 54-39 and held the hosts to 19-of-57 from the floor (33.3%).
• This marked the third win in the last 11 visits to Southern Virginia University.

STAGG ON FIRST COLLEGIATE COACHING WIN

"We just executed the things we have been practicing.  My ladies accepted the challenge that was put before them.  We still have a long way to go, but the first win as a head coach feels awesome."

NEXT UP

The Lady Builders open their home slate on Sunday afternoon with a 2pm contest against Penn State Brandywine.  This marks the first of four straight home games over a two-week span.