FINAL SCORE: Elizabeth City State 79, Apprentice School 68

RECORDS: Elizabeth City State 2-5, Apprentice School 3-5

LOCATION: Apprentice Athletic Facilty Gymnasium/Newport News, Va.

IN BRIEF: The Lady Vikings push the lead to 26 several times. Despite outscoring their opponents in the second half 48-33, the Lady Builders can't make much of a dent.

ON THE COURT

• The Lady Vikings opened the scoring, but an Ylexzis Traeger jumper and Kenya Wilkerson free throw allowed the Lady Builders to take an early 3-2 lead at 9:43. Unfortunately, this would be the only time the Apprentice School would find itself in control.
• Jayln Brown put Elizabeth City State back on top with a jumper at the 8:19 mark. The basket kickstarted a 9-0 run by the Lady Vikings, capped off by an Imani Heggins bucket at 6:06. After Quanisha Bruce and Brown exchanged scores, Wilkerson and Jessica Neighbors made back-to-back scores to pull within 13-9 (2:56). However, a Melissa Reid jumper at :49 and a pair of last-second Breona Jones free throws meant the Lady Vikings would end the opening quarter with a 17-9 lead.
• Elizabeth City State would push its lead even further as a Brown 3-pointer with 5:07 to play in the second quarter made it 31-16. But the Lady Vikings still weren't done. They followed with a Khadijah Bryant bucket and Heggins layup to cap off a 7-0 run and push the score to 35-16 (3:43).
• A layup from Brown at the 1:25 mark made it 41-18. Wilkerson converted both of her free-throws at 1:13, but Alliyah Floyd connected from long range (:31) and Bryant added a jumper (:06) to send the game into the break with the Lady Vikings in control 46-20.
• The Lady Builders outscored the Lady Vikings in both the 3rd and 4th quarters, but the lead was too big to overcome. After a Bryant layup at 7:53 in the 3rd quarter made it 50-24, Traeger and Wilkerson each netted 4 points to cut the lead to 54-32 (4:43).
• The Lady Vikings again pulled ahead by 26, this time as Jones' jumper with 1:27 remaining in the 3rd quarter made it 64-38. The Apprentice School would then close out the quarter with a Hayley Marshall layup and a Courtney White 3-pointer to enter the final 10 minutes behind 64-43.
• A 7-0 run by the Lady Builders to open the final quarter cut the Lady Viking lead to 64-50 (5:50). After a Traeger jumper made it 66-52, the Apprentice School turned to Wilkerson, who would make the next 7 points for the Builders. The Richmond, Va. native ended her streak with a pair of free-throws at the 2:21 mark to pull within 67-56.
• Unfortunately, Elizabeth City State would outscore the Apprentice School 9-3 over the next 1:46. With :30 left on the clock, Traeger sank a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 76-62. Following a Jasmine Nixon free throw at :28, Marshall finally got a 3-pointer to fall with :09 to play in the game. The Lady Builders were then forced to send Brown to the line, and she would make both attempts. Another Marshall 3-pointer at the closing buzzer rounded out the scoring.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Wilkerson paced the Lady Builders in the loss with 22 points. Traeger followed with a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double and Bruce was a point away from a double-double with 15 boards and 9 points. White collected 10 rebounds with 5 points and Marshall contributed 8 points.
• The Apprentice School shot 29.4% (25-of-85) from the field, 20% (4-of-20) from beyond the arc, and 63.6% (14-of-22) from the free-throw line.
• The Ladu Builders beat their opponents on the glass (47-40) and led in points off turnovers (15-12), 2nd chance points (15-13), and committed fewer turnovers (15-20).
• The Apprentice School scored 19 points from its bench, compared to 17 points for Elizabeth City State.
• The game featured one tie and two lead changes.

NEXT UP

The Lady Builders play again Sunday, December 13th as they travel to Pembroke, N.C. to take on the UNC Pembroke Braves (3-3). The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start. The Braves enter the contest looking to snap a two-game losing streak as they come off a 72-39 December 5th loss to Lander University (S.C.).

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