NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Due to hardships and injuries within the program, the remainder of the 2024-25 Apprentice School women’s basketball season has been canceled.
Any single game tickets purchased for remaining home games for the women’s season will be refunded within 3-5 business days.
Story and image courtesy gobuilders.com
DIX HILL, N.Y. – Amaya Ray recorded her second triple-double of the season as #8 Apprentice won a 79-46 contest over #14 Five Towns Friday night.
The Builders (8-6) opened the game on a 10-2 run and continued to stretch their lead throughout the entirety of the contest, leading by as many as 35 points late in the third quarter.
Ray finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists to get her second triple-double of the year and in program history. The sophomore guard finished two steals shy of a quadruple-double. Ashawnti Williams was one steal shy of a triple-double, recording 10 points and 12 boards.
Jada Eleby finished with a game-high 23 points, while Jada Bryant had another double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Apprentice will be back in action tomorrow at #12 Berkeley with tipoff set for 1 p.m.
Story and image courtesy gobuilders.com
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Jada Bryant had a game high 33 points as eighth-ranked Apprentice took down visiting Massasoit Sunday afternoon in the MLK Classic 72-43.
The teams traded leads early, but with the score tied 4-4, Apprentice (7-5) ended the first quarter on a 16-0 run to take a 20-4 lead. The Warriors (3-7) cut the margin to as few as 11 in the second quarter before the Builders pulled away in the second half.
Bryant’s 33 points is good for a tie for seventh place in the Apprentice all-time single game scoring record. She brought along 18 rebounds to get her seventh double-double of the season. Jada Eleby finished with 12 while Nyla Jackson had 10. Amaya Ray pulled down 11 rebounds and dished out eight assists.
The Builders will next be in action against Virginia State, ranked 10th in NCAA Division 2, on Tuesday on the road. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
Story and image courtesy gobuilders.com
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Apprentice School women’s basketball team opened up their 2024 portion of the season with a 57-48 win over Virginia Wesleyan Wednesday night.
After a tightly contested first period, the Builders (6-4), ranked eighth in the USCAA Division 1, opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run to push a two-point lead into double digits. The lead hung around 10 points for the majority of the game until the start of the fourth quarter when Apprentice used a 7-0 start to the final period to take its largest lead of the day at 16 points, 50-34.
The Marlins (3-11) battled hard to trim the lead to as few as seven with under two minutes to play, but the Builders hit shots in the waning moments to quell any momentum in the visitors’ favor.
Jada Bryant led all scorers with 17 points, adding 13 rebounds to her tally for a double-double, her sixth of the year and third straight. Jada Eleby finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 16 points and nine boards. Nyla Jackson had 11, while Ashawnti Williams put up 10.
Story and image courtesy gobuilders.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Apprentice School women’s basketball team had three players record double-doubles in a 56-37 win over Trinity Thursday night.
The Builders, ranked 4th in the latest USCAA women’s basketball poll, jumped out to a 19-2 lead in the first eight minutes of the game and never looked back. Apprentice stretched its lead to as many as 26 points late before the Tigers clawed back to make it a 19-point game.
Jada Eleby led all scorers with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Ashawnti Williams had 11 points and 15 boards, while Jada Bryant was two assists shy of a triple-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Nyla Jackson added 12 points to finish in double figures as well.
The Builders will turn around tomorrow for a rematch with Virginia Union on the road. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
Story and image courtesy Walker McCrary/gobuilders.com
The first basketball polls of the year are out in the USCAA, and the New South Conference is well represented as the Apprentice men’s and women’s teams as well as the Atlantis men are in the top 5 of their respective polls.
The Apprentice women crack the season-opening rankings at number four. The Lady Builders fell to eventual champion D’Youville in the national semifinals last year 75-48. Maine-Fort Kent is number one, followed by Bryant & Stratton Syracuse, Bryant & Stratton Buffalo, Apprentice, and Paul Quinn College.
The Apprentice men have garnered the number 2 national ranking, trailing only Bryant & Stratton Syracuse. Head coach Evan Kee is pleased with the recognition and says he’s looking forward to returning to Petersburg, Virginia, the site of the USCAA Small College Championships.
“We are thrilled that our strong start to the season has led to an early season #2 ranking,” said Kee. “We’ve played a challenging opening schedule and we are happy to have come out with some convincing wins. We understand that the only poll that truly matters is the final one, which will be the crowned national champion. We hope to be in position to finish the season number one in the country and to cut down nets at Virginia State University.”
The Builders are picking up where they left off last season when they went undefeated in conference play, won the NSAC tournament title, and advanced to the USCAA semifinals before falling to Bryant & Stratton Buffalo 77-75.
Atlantis comes into the poll ranked number 4. The new NSAC member also appeared in the national tournament last season in its first year of eligibility, but fell victim to B&S Buffalo in the opening round 73-64.
B&S Buffalo is at number three. Salem University, last year’s national champion, rounds out the top 5.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – For the first time in program history, a triple-double was recorded for the Apprentice School women’s basketball team as Amaya Ray tallied 12 points, 12 rebounds and 11 steals in a 70-60 win over Regent Tuesday night.
The Builders jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, holding the Royals without a point for the first four minutes of the game. Regent fought back to trim the lead to as few as two early in the second quarter, but Apprentice responded with a quick 6-0 spurt to push the lead back out.
In the second half, the Builders got out to a 23-point lead, but the Royals never quit, constantly putting pressure on the Builder defense. Regent got the lead all the way down to the final 10-point deficit by scoring the final eight points of the game.
Jada Bryant led the Builders in scoring with 18 points, while Ray finished with the triple-double, adding six assists to her stat line as well. Nyla Jackson had 10 points, and Ashawnti Williams added a double-double of 10 points and 11 boards.
Apprentice pulled down 49 rebounds and turned the Royals over 31 times.
Story and image courtesy gobuilders.com
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – After finishing the regular season with a 14-7 record, the Apprentice School women’s basketball team earned the No. 6 seed in the upcoming USCAA National Championship to be contested in Richmond, Virginia, March 12-16, the national office announced Sunday afternoon.
The Builders will take on third-seed D’Youville Monday, March 13, at 8 p.m. at Richard Bland College. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
Bryant & Stratton (Buffalo) earned the top seed with Bluefield State was named No. 2. Salem was the No. 4 seed and will take on fifth-seeded Bryant & Stratton (Albany). Bryant & Stratton (Syracuse) claimed the seventh seed, while Carlow was the last team in at No. 8.
This is the first tournament berth for Apprentice since the 2017-18 season.
Tickets for the tournament may be purchased here.
Story and image courtesy gobuilders.com
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Third seed Christendom knocked off 2nd seed Apprentice 67-44 in the New South Athletic Conference semifinals Saturday afternoon to advance into Sunday’s league title game.
The Builders (14-7) never got going offensively, shooting less than 22 percent from the floor on the game and hitting on just one of 17 tries from distance. Christendom (18-4) used a 7-0 push early in the second quarter to seize control of the game.
The Crusaders hit basket after basket and, despite a push in the third period, pulled away from Apprentice to hand the Builders their only loss on their home floor this season.
Catherine Thomas, the league MVP, had a game-high 21 points, while Kate Walz put up 19, making five threes along the way. Ashawnti Williams and Kerrigan Small each had 11 to lead the Builders in the scoring column.
Christendom now faces off with Carolina Christian (7-4) at 2:00 pm Sunday for the inaugural New South women’s basketball championship.
Story courtesy Walker McCrary/gobuilders.com
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – While it may not have been easy, the Apprentice School women’s basketball team did what they needed to do to take down Maine-Fort Kent Saturday afternoon, 79-74.
The Bengals jumped out to an early lead behind great shooting in the opening moments of the game, but the Builders weathered the storm and ended up leading by as many as 14 in the first half. UMFK battled back to trim the lead to a single possession late in the game, but key baskets and free throws were enough to push Apprentice to its third straight win.
Jada Bryant led the Builders with a double-double of 22 points and 19 rebounds. Ashawnti Williams also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards. Amaya Ray had 13 points, while Kerrigan Small added 10. Apprentice hit just one three pointer in the contest.
Story and image courtesy gobuilders.com
