NEWPORT NEWS, VA. -- The Apprentice School women's basketball
team opened a new era on Friday night under first-year head coach
Lanica Williams, but showed a lot of the same athleticism and
pressure.
Freshman Tyisha Battle recorded a game-high 17 points and 10
rebounds as the Lady Builders closed the first half on a 19-5 run
and forced 44 turnovers in route to a 78-54 victory over
Morrisville State in the first night of the Great Ships
Invitational.
Apprentice School will now face Lynchburg College in Saturday's
3 pm championship game. The Lady Hornets defeated Southern
Virginia University 75-54 in the opening game.
Morrisville State hung around in the first half that saw four
ties and four lead changes. The Mustangs took their biggest
lead on an Ebony Whitfield layup with 7:23 left for an 18-14
advantage. A Battle free throw with 5:49 left brought
Apprentice School back to even at 19-all. From that point,
the Lady Builders closed the half on a 19-5 run capped by a Jessica
Henderson jumper with 10 seconds left to take a 38-24 lead into the
locker room.
In the second half, the Lady Builders opened on an 16-4 run to
take their biggest lead of the night at 54-28 on a free throw from
LaTorie Ford with 13:24 left. From that point, the lead never
dropped below 17 points.
The Apprentice School resembled last year's squad in another way
- balanced scoring. After Battle's 17, eight different
players scored between six and eight points.
APPRENTICE SCHOOL 78, MORRISVILLE STATE 54
MORRISVILLE STATE (0-1): McKenzie 4-10 1-1 9, Powe 1-2 0-0 3,
Pajack 2-5 0-0 4, Cikowski 0-0 1-2 1, Fowlston 0-0 0-0 0, Collins
5-8 0-2 12, Lewis 0-3 0-0 0, Whitfield 3-10 0-1 6, Pierce 7-11 1-4
16, Taveras 0-2 0-2 0, Kaufmann 0-5 2-2 2, Cole 0-0 1-2 1.
Totals 22-56 6-16 54.
APPRENTICE SCHOOL (1-0): West 1-1 2-3 4, Jones 0-7 3-4 3, Lewter
2-11 3-4 7, Cooke 3-8 2-2 8, Battle 8-15 1-2 17, Morton 3-7 0-0 7,
Ford 2-5 2-5 6, Gerald 1-2 3-4 6, Blow 3-4 0-0 6, Williams 3-5 1-3
7, Henderson 3-7 0-1 7. Totals 29-72 17-28 78.
Halftime: NNA 38-24. 3-point goals: Morrisville 4-11
(McKenzie 0-2, Powe 1-1, Collins 2-4, Lewis 0-1, Pierce 1-1,
Taveras 0-2); NNA 3-12 (Jones 0-3, Lewter 0-2, Cooke 0-1, Morton
1-2, Gerald 1-1, Henderson 1-3). Rebounds: Morrisville 45
(Kaufmann 7); NNA 44 (Battle 10). Total fouls: Morrisville
20, NNA 18. Fouled out: Pajack. Assists: Morrisville 13
(Cikowski 5); NNA 17 (Ford 5). Technicals: Morrisville bench,
Apprentice bench. Att.: 483.
