FINAL SCORE: Apprentice School 80, West Virginia Tech 79

RECORDS: Apprentice School 5-10, West Virginia Tech 6-8

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

IN BRIEF: Down 24 late in the 3rd quarter, the Lady Builders battled back to earn the win over the visiting Golden Bears. After West Virginia Tech made a jumper to take a 79-77 lead in the final minute, Chauntell Dunbar hit a 3-pointer with :09 remaining to clinch the comeback victory.

ON THE COURT

• Courtney White connected from deep range to open up the scoring, but West Virginia answered with a 3-ball of its own. Back-to-back Kenya Wilkerson jumpers ignited a 12-3 run by the Lady Builders. West Virginia Tech scored the last bucket of the opening quarter to cut the Lady Builder lead to 19-12.
• After a Jessica Neighbors layup to start the second, the Golden Bears took off on a 14-0 run, capped off by three 3-pointers, to wrestle back control 26-21. After an old-fashioned three-point play by Dunbar, West Virginia Tech used a 12-0 run to pull away. Tyne Innocent converted a free-throw attempt late, but the Golden Bears sank a pair of charity attempts to take a 40-25 advantage into the locker room.
• West Virginia Tech pushed its lead to 56-32 in the third quarter with a jumper at the 3:22 mark. But the Lady Builders turned up their defense, forcing multiple Golden Bear turnovers. The pressure caused West Virginia Tech to send several Builders to the line, and the Apprentice School capitalized with a 7-0 run that pulled the team to within 56-39. The teams then traded a pair of baskets to end the quarter.
• In the final quarter, the Lady Builders held the Golden Bears scoreless for nearly six minutes and scored 13 straight to pull within 60-56 with 4:53 to play. The Apprentice School continue to chip away at the West Virginia lead and pulled to within 71-69 as Hayley Marshall sank a 3-pointer with :52 on the clock.
• The Apprentice School sent several Golden Bears to the line, but knotted the score up at 75-75 with a pair of jumpers from Wilkerson and Innocent. West Virginia Tech made another pair of free throws, but Wilkerson scored to tie the game again at 77-77. Julie Conway netted a basket to put West Virginia back on top, but Dunbar got a 3-ball to fall with :09 remaining to complete the comeback victory.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Three Lady Builders reached double-digit scoring: Wilkerson led the way with 21 points, followed by Ylexzis Traeger with 17 points and Marshall with 11 points. Traeger was close to a double-double as she pulled down a team-high 9 rebounds. Innocent also came close with 8 points and 8 boards.
• The Apprentice School shot 39.7% (29-of-73) from the field, 19.0% (4-of-21) from beyond the arc, and 64.3% (18-of-28) from the charity stripe.
• The Apprentice School led in second-chance points (9-8), points in the paint (14-4), committed fewer turnovers (18-20), and points off turnovers (28-10).
• The Lady Buiders bench just edged out the Golden Bears' bench, 24-22.
• The game featured three ties and two lead changes.

NEXT UP

The Apprentice School has a couple weeks off as their game against Barber-Scotia (N.C.) was cancelled. The next games on the schedule for the Lady Builders are a January 28th matchup with Trinity College (Fla.) and a January 29th game against Florida College as the team is on the road to participate in the Sun Coast Classic.

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