The drought ends, Urbana girls enjoy first win of the season

RANTOUL -- It finally happened. The Urbana girls basketball team earned their first win after beating Rantoul Township, 38-35. It took 14 games this season for the Tigers to finally sample the taste of victory.

"It is a great feeling for all of the team," said head coach Bobby Boykin. "They have worked so hard, and their dedication finally paid off. We are hoping to build upon this win, and just continue to work as a team to get better."

Urbana used a 14-point second-quarter run to erase a two-point deficit in the first quarter. Gabrielle Mboyo-Meta, Zineria Edwards, and Jasmine McCullough contributed two points each in the frame. Kenzie Sprague and Destiny Barber dumped four points apiece during the quarter to give the Tigers a 21-14 halftime lead.

Rantoul's Tashay Jackson-Roper was the leading scorer in the non-conference matchup with 13 points, 11 manufactured in the second half. Sheila Navarette buried three treys for nine points to help the Eagles' cause.

Barber led the Urbana (1-13, 0-6 Big Twelve) offense with 11 points. Mboyo-Meta chipped in nine points, and Edwards was good for another eight points.

Rantoul (0-9, 0-3 IPC) went to the free-throw line 31 times. Jackson-Roper, who found herself on the charity stripe 22 times, made seven of the team's 10 free throws.

Meanwhile, Urbana's McCullough was the only player who made 100% of her free throws, draining both in the second quarter. Mboyo-Meta was 3-for-6 from the line, and Barber found the net during three of her eight trips to the line.

While pleased with the outcome, Boykin knows there is a lot of work to be done and hoops to be played.

"We still have a ways to go and are going to face some great teams down the home stretch of our season."

Box Score

Final: Urbana 38 - Rantoul 35

	1	2	3	4	F
Urbana	7	14	7	10	38
Rantoul	9	6	10	10	35

Urbana --
Mboyo-Meta 3 (0) 3-6 -- 9, Sprague 4 (0) 3-8 -- 11, J. Hall 0 (1) 1-4 -- 4, McCullough 0 (0) 1-4 -- 1, T. Hall 4 (0) 0-3 -- 8, Blanden 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Blanden 0 (0) 0-1 -- 0, McCullough 0 (1) 2-2 -- 5, T. Hall 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Blanden 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0.

Rantoul --
Walton 1 (0) 0-0 -- 2, Emery 0 (0) 0-2 -- 0, Jackson-Roper 3 (0) 7-22 -- 13, Polk 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Dixon 0 (0) 3-6 -- 3, Sutherland 0 (1) 0-0 -- 3, Autman 1 (1) 0-1 -- 5, Martin 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Sheila 0 (3) 0-0 -- 9, Naverette 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Ortiz 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0.