Greensboro, NC – On Saturday afternoon, the Apprentice Women's Basketball team traveled to North Carolina to face NCAA Division III Guilford College. Both teams were looking to gain some momentum prior to the holiday break, and, in addition, the Lady Builders were hoping to come away with their first win of the season.
The Lady Quakers jumped out to an 8-1 lead midway through the first quarter. While Apprentice had some opportunities, they were unable to convert on the offensive end and suddenly they found themselves trailing by a score of 11-1. Their offensive woes continued and after a Guilford 3-pointer, the Lady Builders trailed by 18 points, 19-1. Brittney Jones stopped the scoring drought when she converted the front end of a one and one, which was followed up by a 3-pointer from Nyla Jackson and then a FG from Jamica Jones. As the quarter was coming to an end, Kerrigan Smalls hit another 3-pointer for Apprentice and with a free throw from Nyla Jackson, the Lady Builders had pulled to with 11 points, 22-11. However, the Lady Quakers would go on a 5-0 run to end the quarter leading 27-11.
The beginning of the second quarter saw both teams trading baskets, until Kelly Neondra drained a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 31-18. However, Guilford was able to push their lead back to 18 points, 36-18, with 3:56 remaining in the half. Nyla Jackson would hit another 3-pointer, but the Lady Quakers answered with one of their own. With 20 seconds left in the half, Kerrigan Smalls converted a layup to cut the lead to 16 points, but Apprentice would eventually head to the locker room trailing by a score of 41-23.
As the third quarter began, the Lady Quakers quickly went to work offensively, scoring 12 straight points to increase their advantage, 53-23. Both teams would spend the next 3 minutes unable to put any more points on the board until, Brittney Jones hit a shot for the Lady Builders. Alena Puaauli-Pelham was also able to get Apprentice two more points, and that was followed by 2 free throws from Brittney Jones, to pull within 60-29 and that is how the quarter would end. The Fourth Quarter was much like the earlier three, with Guilford matching anything the Lady Builders threw at them. Along with Nyla Jackson, Brittney Jones was able to create some scoring opportunities for Apprentice but unfortunately, they could not cut into the Lady Quakers lead and as the horn sounded, the Lady Builders would fall, 72-40.
Apprentice was led by Brittney Jones who finished the game with 14 points, going 4-19 from the field, 1-1 from the 3-point line and 5-8 from the free throw line. Nyla Jackson had a solid day from behind the 3-point arc, going 3-4, while finishing the game with 10 points. The Lady Builders will have one more game on the road before the holiday break, as they travel to Bridgewater for a Wednesday night match-up. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00pm.