Charlotte, NC - Johnson & Wales used a dominant fourth quarter performance to dispatch Apprentice 64-51 on Saturday afternoon.

It looked as if the Wildcats would have an easy afternoon against the Builders in the first couple of minutes of action. JWU raced out to a 9-0 lead, aided by three Apprentice miscues. The Builders fought back to knot the score at 11 with four minutes left in the period before the Wildcats closed with an 8-2 spurt to lead 19-13 after ten minutes. An Aimee Evans jumper with six and a half minutes left in the second quarter gave JWU its largest lead of the half at 26-14, and the Wildcats went to the locker room ahead 37-28 as they shot 48% from the field in the half (15-31).

JWU emerged from the locker room stone cold from the field in the third stanza, making just three of their sixteen shots. This allowed the Builders to slowly creep back into the game, as Jada Bryant's jumper with a minute left in the quarter pulled Apprentice to within two points at 49-47. 

The Wildcats put together a solid effort on both ends of the court in the final period to quell any further Apprentice comeback attempts. JWU scored the first six points of the quarter, and made 5 of 11 field goal attempts, and five of six free throws in the period. They shone defensively as well, holding the Builders to just 2 of 20 shooting, and forcing 7 turnovers on their way to a 64-51 victory.

Jayla Lovett led the Wildcats with 15 points, while McKenzie Taylor added 13. Evans scored 11 points and collected 7 rebounds. Korletta Daniels and Samara Britt joined Evans with 7 boards as well.

The Wildcats next travel to Swannanoa, NC on Wednesday, January 31st to take on Warren Wilson in a 5pm game.