By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – The University girls basketball team opened its Pioneer Athletic Academic Conference season Thursday with a 58-39 victory over Anderson Prep Academy at the U Center.
The Trailblazers scored the first six points of the game. Keira Bright opened things up with a layin, Anyah Jordan-Turley made two free throws and Leah Norvell made a layin. That set the tone, as all three players would play outstanding during the game.
“I think that we came out and we really played as a unit, which is something that we’ve been talking about a lot,” said University coach Lisa Pryor. “And they worked really well together and were able to force some good turnovers for us to get us going.”
The Jets would battle for the entire game, but it was the Trailblazers’ defense and rebounding that enabled them to stay comfortably ahead. University led 15-9 after the first quarter, with Bright making consecutive baskets, a jumper and a 3-pointer.
The ‘Blazers ran through the second quarter, outscoring APA 18-3 to take a 33-12 halftime lead. Jordan-Turley was dominant during that period, scoring nine points, including two baskets off steals.
It was Bright’s turn in the third quarter, when she added nine points. That was a major part of a 12-4 spurt that got University to its highest lead of the game at 45-16. Anderson Prep went on a run to close the period, scoring nine straight points to get within 45-25 after three.
Bright
But the ‘Blazers wouldn’t allow the Jets to get any closer. Jordan-Turley made sure of that by scoring seven points during the final minutes of the game. Four different players scored in the fourth quarter; Pryor said it one of the team’s goals “to get everybody involved, to share the basketball” in the game.
Bright led University with 23 points, while Jordan-Turley scored 20; both are career highs. Norvell finished the game with a career-high 12 rebounds, while Hannah Grubbs collected 10 rebounds.
“Our goal is to always outrebound the other team,” said Pryor. The ‘Blazers totaled 35 team rebounds, with Bright also getting seven.
Bright also made nine steals and dished out seven assists, again both career highs, while Jordan-Turley made four steals. Mack Feeney had four blocked shots and Grubbs made two blocks.
“I thought they had spurts where they looked really, really good,” said Pryor.
University is 3-2, moving ahead of the .500 mark for the first time this season. The Trailblazers host Roncalli for their next game, which is at noon Saturday.
UNIVERSITY 58, ANDERSON PREP ACADEMY 39
University FG FT TP PF
Meg Rohloff 1-5 0-0 2 0
Kiera Bright 10-16 1-3 23 2
Leah Norvell 2-10 1-2 5 0
Anyah Jordan-Turley 8-13 3-3 20 3
Mack Feeney 2-2 0-0 4 2
Hannah Grubbs 1-7 2-4 4 2
Jayda Dawn 0-1 0-0 0 0
Sam Purdie 0-1 0-0 0 0
Jiyou Lee 0-1 0-0 0 0
Naaima Mahmood 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 24-56 7-12 58 9
Score by Quarters
Anderson Prep 9 3 13 14 – 39
University 15 18 12 13 – 58
University 3-point shooting (3-12) Bright 2-5, Jordan-Turley 1-2, Norvell 0-5.
University rebounds (35) Norvell 12, Grubbs 10, Bright 7, Jordan-Turley 4, Dawn 1, Feeney 1.