Charlotte, NC – The Apprentice Women's Basketball team was at Johnson & Wales Saturday for their final road game of the regular season.  Coach Hill and her team were looking gain some momentum before finishing their schedule with 4 straight home games.  However, in order to do that, they would have to control the offensive side of the ball and shut down a team that was scoring 70 points/game and who had won 9 of their last 10 games.

The Wildcats got on the board first to start the first quarter, but Ashawnti Williams answered to tie the game up at 2-2.  Johnson & Wales would proceed to score 6 straight points, until Alena Puaauli-Pelham found the basket on her first 3-point attempt of the game.  However, Apprentice could not get any closer and eventually fell behind by double digits, 17-7.  Each team would score another basket and after adding a free throw, the quarter ended with the Builders trailing 19-11. 

After a Johnson & Wales free throw, Pelham drained her second 3-pointer of the game to start the second quarter, pulling Apprentice to within 6 points, 20-14.  The Wildcats answered with 2 straights 3-pointers of their own and with 5:32 left in the half, they held a 12-point advantage.  They eventually increased it to 20-points and as the half came to an end, the Builders found themselves trailing by a score of 43-25.

As the third quarter began, Brittney Jones got things started for Apprentice with a driving layup and then on the next possession she converted 2 free throws to give her team some momentum.  However, Johnson & Wales began to get hot from the floor and, with 2:30 left in the quarter, they had their largest lead of the game, 65-36.  That lead would increase to 32 points and when the quarter was over, the Builders were down 72-40. 

The fourth quarter saw Ashwanti Williams, Nyla Jackson, and Alena Puaauli-Pelham score three straight baskets to trim the deficit to 25 points.  Brittney Jones would pull them closer, and after another basket by Williams, Apprentice had trimmed to lead to 73-21.  However, the Wildcats once again had an answer as they were able to increase their lead and as the final buzzer sounded, the Builders would fall by a final score of 86-57.

Apprentice was led by Alena Puaauli-Pelham, who finished the game with 14 points, while Ashawnti Williams and Brittney Jones each finished with 11 points.  Williams also grabbed a total of 12 rebounds to lead all players on the afternoon.  The Builders will return home when they host Washington Adventist on Tuesday night.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00pm.