YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – In May, Ursuline announced the hiring of LaVell Turnage to take over the Fighting Irish girls basketball program. Turnage, an alum of Ursuline, guided Badger to the Northeastern Athletic Conference championship a year ago while being named Trumbull County Coach of the Year.
Turnage will have a pair of starters returning in Lily Scott and Meredith Gray along with key contributors – Carly Casey, Brooke Opalick, Kayla Grope, Brooklyn Brown, Julie Lee, Nia Burney, Jada Jones, Kennedy Carpenter, Katie Koulianos and Kamonlak Pliwma – back in the fold for the Irish this season.
“Our expectations are pretty high,” said coach Turnage. “We have a great group of girls who are willing to do the little things for the success of their teammates. One of our non-negotiable [items] are we’ll sit down and play defense. Our offense will be our defense. We want to continue building from the previous seasons success.”
Turnage added, “One of the strengths of our team is that we’re a position-less basketball team.”
Ursuline begins the 2023-24 season with a home matchup against Canton Central Catholic on Wednesday, November 22.
Ursuline Fighting Irish
Fast Facts
Head Coach: LaVell Turnage
2022-23 Record: 15-8 (6-0), 1st place in Steel Valley Conference
2022-23 Post-Season Finish: Lost to Aurora in Sectional Semifinal
2022-23 Team Stats
Scoring Offense: 40.9
Scoring Defense: 37.0
2023-24 Schedule
Nov. 22 – Canton Central Catholic
Nov. 25 – vs. Hoban (at Hiram)
Nov. 29 – Lakeview
Dec. 2 – at St. Vincent-St. Mary
Dec. 6 – at Fitch
Dec. 11 – at Chaney
Dec. 13 – Howland
Dec. 20 – West Branch
Dec. 28 – vs. South Range (at South Range Tournament)
Dec. 29 – vs. Louisville (at South Range Tournament)
Jan. 3 – at Mooney
Jan. 6 – at Harding
Jan. 10 – East
Jan. 13 – at Salem
Jan. 20 – Louisville
Jan. 24 – Chaney
Jan. 29 – Canfield
Feb. 1 – Springfield
Feb. 5 – at East
Feb. 7 – Mooney
Feb. 10 – at Girard
