FINAL: UNC Pembroke 86, Apprentice School 61

RECORDS: UNC Pembroke 4-3, Appentice School 3-6

LOCATION: English E. Jones Center/Pembroke, N.C.

IN BRIEF: Tough defensive play and rebounding by the host Braves limit the Lady Builders' opportunities as they can't overcome a 31-point deficit.

ON THE COURT

• UNC Pembroke opened the scoring and Ylexzis Traeger evened the scoring with a layup at 9:37. The Braves then made an old-fashioned three-point play to take a 5-2 lead, but a Bria Hill jumper and a Kenya Wilkerson layup put the Lady Builders up 6-5 (7:24).
• UNC Pembroke would take back control with a 3-ball at 7:08, starting a 15-6 run. A pair of Wilkerson free-throws at the 1:55 mark pulled the Apprentice School within 23-17, but the Braves closed out the opening quarter with a 5-0 run.
• UNC Pembroke started the second quarter with a 7-0 run and held the Lady Builders scoreless until 7:10 when Hill made both of her free-throw attempts. After a pair of Braves free-throws, Quanisha Bruce got a tip-in and added a free-throw and Jessica Neighbors made her free-throw to trim the lead to 37-23 (2:48).
• A layup and 3-pointer put UNC Pembroke ahead 42-23 with 1:31 remaining in the quarter. Shakiera Skinner made a deep-ball with :48 on the clock to make it 42-26, but the Braves added a pair of free-throws to take a 44-26 lead into the break.
• The Braves scored 29 points in the 3rd to help push their lead to 70-39 (1:47), their largest lead of the night. Hayley Marshall netted 11 points, making three 3-pointers, to lead the Builders in the third.
• Traeger scored 6 points in the final quarter to pace the Apprentice School. With a Braves free-throw at 8:09 extending their lead to 75-50, Traeger hit a jumper. She then answered a Braves layup with one of her own (79-56, 6:24).
• Marshall drained a 3-pointer with 4:12 remaining to make it 82-59. Following a pair of UNC Pembroke baskets, Hill sunk a pair of charity shots to wrap up the scoring.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Traeger netted 16 points to pace the Lady Builders in the loss. Marshall followed with 14 points off the bench and Wilkerson scored 10 points.
• The Apprentice School shot 34.4% (22-of-64) from the field, 31.8% (7-of-22) from beyond the arc, and 55.6% (10-of-18) from the charity stripe.
• The Builders scored 18 bench points.
• The game featured two ties and as many lead changes.

NEXT UP

The Lady Builders will head to Montgomery, W.Va. next Thursday, December 17th to play a 6 p.m. game against the West Virginia Tech Golden Bears. West Virginia Tech is 4-7 and is coming off a 94-51 loss to UVA - Wise.

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