Malverne showing improvement

First-year head coach Amanda Masson knew her initial season at the helm of the Malverne Lady Mules could be a struggle after taking over a three-win team from a year ago that lost their top two scorers to graduation. But a higher win total and the emergence of some of the younger classmen could put the program back on the upswing.
Malverne’s 53-31 win over Oyster Bay on Jan. 18 was its fifth of the season and kept the Lady Mules in contention for a Conference B playoff spot. Those aspirations took a hit after a 47-21 loss to fourth-place Wheatley last Saturday, but Masson, a former assistant coach with the team, has noticed a big difference.
“I’ve seen a tremendous improvement with the girls [and] having more confidence on the court,” she said. “They just have to learn to do that consecutively in every game.”
Backed by a new up-tempo style of play where all five players on the court are involved, the season started promising for the Lady Mules with victories over Hicksville and at Carey before a five-game losing streak halted that momentum. The team recovered with wins over Roosevelt and Friends Academy over the next three contests to push them past last year’s output.
“They have been more confident going [into games] and they were really open to trying new things,” Masson said. “I try to give them different plays to showcase their talents and I think it improved it even more for them.”

Freshman Princia Ulysse continues to turn heads at point guard in her second season with the team and is the Mules’ top scorer at just over eight points a game. She has recorded three 16-point games this season, including almost half of Malverne’s offense in a 62-31 loss at East Rockaway on Jan. 16.
“She’s always been in a big role, but she’s stepped into a bigger role,” Masson said. “A lot of other schools thought she was a junior or senior, but she’s only a freshman. She has a lot of learning to still do, but for her age, I’m really excited to see where she’s going.”
Junior shooting guard Tyela Davidson is slightly behind Ulysse at 7.5 points a game and continues to be a consistent producer with five double-digit scoring efforts this season.
“She’s the energy of the team,” Masson said. “just a great athlete. She’s always there at the right time [and] definitely did improve. She’s going to have a big senior year for sure.”
Senior Nia Moore (5.5 ppg) and juniors Tamaira Smalls (5.4) and Monica Cordova (5.3) have also produced for the Lady Mules this season.
Malverne visited Friends Academy on Tuesday and will finish the season against the top three teams in the conference in Carle Place, Cold Spring Harbor and East Rockaway.
“I told them practice is going to be way more tough now,” Masson said. “We definitely have to fight for the playoffs. [We] just basically have to keep our heads up. The season’s not over.”