FINAL SCORE: Christopher Newport 88, Apprentice School 86
RECORDS: Christopher Newport 2-2, Apprentice School 2-2
RANKING: CNU #18 d3hoops.com Top 25
LOCATION: Apprentice Athletic Center

IN BRIEF: Visiting Christopher Newport University held off a wild second-half rally as they defeated The Apprentice School 88-86 in front of over 500 fans at the Apprentice Athletic Center on Sunday.

ON THE COURT

• The Lady Builders jumped out quickly scoring the first five points as a Shanae Hilliard 3-pointer put them up 5-0 55 seconds into the game.  
• That was a lead that the Lady Builders held until a Kendra Stone jumper with 15:22 left put CNU up 14-13. The Captains used an 8-0 run over a 2:11 span to push the advantage to 26-18 on a Lauren Cox layup with 11:09 left.  
• Apprentice School trimmed that to 26-24 on a pair of Kenya Wilkerson free throws with 10 minutes left, but saw the guests rip off the next 10 points as a Cox layup with 7:23 left gave them their first double-digit lead at 34-24.
• In the second half, the CNU lead grew to 13 points on a Jalynn Ponzo free throw with 17:45 left to hold a 54-41 advantage. The Lady Builders responded with a 13-2 run over the next 3:11 to trim the lead to 56-54 on a Hilliard layup with 14:34 left.
• Both teams traded runs as CNU went up 64-58 on a Jordan Miller 3-pointer with 10:55 left.  Apprentice School trimmed it to 69-67 on a JOhnelle Johnson layup with 7:58 remaining.
• The Lady Builders tied the game for the first time in the second half on a pair of Courtney White free throws with 6:59 left at 71-all.  CNU pushed the advantage to seven on four occasions, the last being on a pair of Cox free throws with 51 seconds left for an 88-81 lead.  
• A Wilkerson driving layup with 43 seconds left brought the hosts to 88-83.  After a pair of missed free throws and jumpers, Neighbors found White open at the top of the key for a long 3-pointer to bring the hosts to 88-86 with 14 seconds.  
• Cox missed a pair of free throws for CNU with one second left, but a last-second heave fell short for Apprentice School.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Wilkerson was the leading scorer in the game with 27 points for Apprentice School as she was 11-of-14 from the floor.  The 27 points is an Apprentice Athletic Center record breaking the previous mark for most points by Courtney Collins who had 20 in the inaugural game against Bennett College.
• Joining Wilkerson in double figures was Hilliard with 14, including four 3-pointers.  Those tied the mark for most 3-pointers in a game in the Apprentice Athletic Center.
• Neighbors had 13 points and a team-high 8 rebounds and Ylexis Traeger added 11 points.  As a team, the Lady Builders were 28-of-67 from the floor (41.8%), 5-of-12 from 3-point range (41.7%) and 25-of-35 from the foul line (71.4%).
• CNU was headed by Ponzo with 16 points, Cox with 15, Kendra Stone and Devon Byrs with 12 and Camry Green with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.  They were 31-of-62 from the floor (50%), 2-of-11 from 3-point range (18.2%) and 24-of-39 from the foul line (61.5%).

NEXT UP
Apprentice School will close out November hosting NCAA Division II Virginia Union University on Wednesday night at 6 pm.