NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – The Apprentice School Lady Builders closed the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule with a 6-for-6 foul line performance in the final 36 seconds to raise their record to 10-0 with a 65-59 victory over Averett University on Wednesday night.

In a second half that saw four ties and seven lead changes, the Lady Builders started quickly as jumpers from Courtney Collins and Denise Hamilton gave the hosts a 31-27 lead with 18:21 left.  Three straight Averett buckets gave them a 33-31 lead on a Mette Scheiman jumper with 15:49 left. 

The lead bounced back and forth until a pair of Jasmine Pringle free throws with 13:59 left tied the game at 35-all.  Averett responded with a 16-8 run over the next 4:42 to take its largest lead of the night on a 3-pointer from Liz Martin with 9:17 left to lead 51-43.

A Collins jumper at the 8:16 mark started a 9-0 run for the Lady Builders as Shanae Hilliard drained a 3-pointer off a Pringle feed for a 52-51 Apprentice lead with 6:04 remaining.  Averett answered with a layup from Kaneshia Slade 12 seconds later to lead 53-52.  The teams traded the advantage for a couple minutes before Slade drained a 3-pointer to give the Cougars their final lead at 57-56 with 3:05 left. 

Following a stretch of missed shots and turnovers from both teams, Hilliard drained her second 3-pointer of the night to put Apprentice School up 59-57 with 1:36 left.  The free throw shooting came to life in the final 36 seconds as Collins, Christina Licano and Pringle each hit a pair to ice the win.

Apprentice School was paced by Collins with 16 points and six rebounds, while sophomore Danita Whitaker had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Licano had 10 points and four rebounds The team hit 24-of-52 from the field (46.2%) and was 13-of-25 in the second half from the field (52%). 

Averett had three in double figures as well with Kyana Smith leading the way with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Slade added 12 points and eight rebounds and Liz Martin chipped in with 10 points.  The Cougars, who saw their five-game winning streak snapped, were 23-of-58 from the floor (39.7% ) and hit seven 3-pointers.  They tied the Lady Builders on the boards with 34 each, while committing 28 turnovers to 26 for Apprentice School.

The Lady Builders are off through the Christmas holiday and return to action on December 30 when they travel to face NCAA Division II Mount Olive College at 6 pm.