FINAL SCORE: Apprentice School 74, Rochester College 59

RECORDS: Apprentice School 22-4, Rochester College 12-17

SEEDINGS: Apprentice School #4, Rochester College #5

EVENT: USCAA Women's Division I Championships

LOCATION: Uniontown, PA

IN BRIEF: The Apprentice School used a 16-0 run in the first half on Wednesday as they defeated Rochester College 74-59 in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Division I Championships in Uniontown, PA.

ON THE COURT: Both teams started off struggling offensively as a Kari Burton jumper gave the Warriors a 4-2 lead with 15:43 left.  Neither team then scored for the next 3:19 as Shanae Hilliard drained a 3-pointer to give the Lady Builders a 5-4 lead.

Her triple started the 16-0 run for the Lady Builders as a Courtney Collins layup with 7:06 left put them ahead 18-4.  In that run, the Warriors were 0-for-10 from the floor with nine turnovers.  Their drought ended as Meagan Heiden drained a 3-pointer to trim the margin to 18-7 with 6:34 left.

That triple for Rochester started them on a 10-2 run over the next 2:37 as Erica Schwartz made a free throw to bring the Warriors within striking range at 20-14.  Apprentice School responded with three buckets from Hilliard, including two 3-pointers, and a pair of April McCoy free throws to lead 29-17 with 1:43 left on a Hilliard layup.

In the second half, the Lady Builders opened up a double-digit margin quickly jumping out scoring eight of the first ten points as a Hilliard layup with 17:47 left gave them a 37-22 lead.   That margin was never under 11 points the rest of the game.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Hilliard and Collins were the leading scorers for the Lady Builders with 20 points apiece.  Collins was 8-for-10 from the floor and hauled in six rebounds.  Hilliard joined her with 20 points, four steals and three rebounds.
• The 8-for-10 performance from Collins is an Apprentice School post-season record for field goal percentage in a game.  The previous best was held by Sherry Whetsel who was 5-for-7 against Philander Smith College in 2000.
• Also scoring in double figures were McCoy and Kenya Wilkerson with 10 points apiece.  McCoy had four rebounds, while Wilkerson had five assists, four rebounds and four steals.
• For the game, the Lady Builders were 30-for-77 (39%), and shot a blistering 19-of-34 (55.9%) in the second half. 
• Danita Whitaker just missed joining the double figure club with eight points and 10 rebounda.
• Rochester was paced by Heiden with 24 points and nine rebounds.  The Warriors were 19-of-56 from the floor (33.9%).
• The win is the 12^th in a row for the Lady Builders.
• This marks the first time they've made the USCAA Semifinals since a third-place finish in 2006 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

NEXT UP – CONCORDIA COLLEGE

The Lady Builders will face the eight-seeded Concordia College Hornets on Friday morning at 11 am in the national semifinals.  Concordia knocked off top-seeded Iowa Wesleyan College 71-56 in the first-game of the tournament.