Ursuline’s fast start leads to easy victory

January 10, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

In a game that was one-sided from the start, the Ursuline girls basketball team trounced visiting East, 55-22, on Monday night.

The scoring leader for Ursuline (8-3) was senior Briana Curd, who tallied 15 points.

Sydney Beasley, a junior, scored 14 points for the Irish and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Senior Courtney Powell added 13 points for Ursuline.

The leading scorer for East (3-8) was freshman Kyshoda Davenport, who came off the bench to sink three field goals for six points. Junior Chimicka Kennedy scored four points for the Panthers.

“Playing defense is number one for us,” said Ursuline assistant coach Arnold Davidson, who guided the team on Tuesday. “We know defense wins ballgames.”

The scoring started when Curd snagged a rebound and put the ball back up for a field goal.

Beasley boosted the lead to 10-0 when she sank a 3-point shot and then scored a field goal. The early lead by the Irish reached 11-0 when senior Auriella Irizarry connected on a shot from the free-throw stripe.

Kennedy ended East’s scoring drought when she banked home a layup. But those were the only points the Panthers were able to score in the first quarter, which ended with the Irish leading 19-2.

Curd and Powell each scored six points for the Irish in the opening stanza.

After senior Zatona Yancey connected on a pair of free throws for East to open the second quarter, Ursuline went on another scoring run, scoring 12 unanswered points to increase their lead to 31-4. Powell netted five more points for the Irish in the second quarter.

Alize Robinson swished a 3-point shot late in the second quarter for the Panthers’ only field goal of the quarter. East added two points on free throws by senior Maujanette Feagins and another point from junior Ashlyn Baker’s trip to the charity stripe to total eight points in what turned out to be East’s most productive quarter of the night.

Ursuline led 33-10 at halftime.

The Irish trounced the Panthers 15-5 in the third quarter, with Beasley sinking a 3-pointer and scoring eight points for Ursuline. Davenport and Kennedy swished field goals for East.

Each time scored seven points in the fourth quarter. Curd scored four points in the final stanza for the Irish. For East, Davenport stole the ball and scored a lay-up, and later scored the game’s final points.

“East is a good team,” said Davidson. “They play hard and we wanted to match their intensity.”

Panthers coach Tanisha Franklin said, “We have talent on our team, but I definitely think this team is under-achieving right now.”