SETU Waterford Wildcats, FloMAX Liffey Celtics, and defending champions, Killester remain deadlocked at the top of the Women’s Super League table after all three teams carded wins on Saturday night.
SETU Waterford Wildcats came through a huge test at home against Trinity Meteors, running out 91-86 winners in Mercy College, to keep pace with Killester and FloMAX Liffey Celtics at the top of the Women’s Super League table.
Deadlocked with just under three minutes remaining, this battle saw Waterford demonstrate great resolve down the stretch as Sarah Hickey, Ashia McCalla and Chelsea Cain served up late buckets to help see their side over the line.
All three players, along with Kate Hickey, exceeded 20 points, with Sarah Hickey and Cain soaking up a total of 25 rebounds, as Wildcats survived in the face of tenacious Trinity who were fuelled largely by the combined 57 points that Morgan Lenahan, Grace Prenter and Emma Merriweather totalled in this fixture.
“We’re delighted to get the win on home soil” said Wildcats head coach, Jillian Hayes. “It was a really tough game of basketball that came down to the wire.
“I wasn't happy with our defensive performance tonight. We’re better than that, but we had a couple of players really step up in the last few minutes to get it over the line for us, with four players all having over 20 points. We’ll take it and hopefully improve defensively for next week” she added.
FloMAX Liffey Celtics may not have been at their best offensively, but they still did enough to record a 67-49 victory over Women’s Super League rivals, Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell in Leixlip on Saturday night.
Alexis Tucker and Eboni Williams managed 28 points between, but it was defence that really won this game for the Kildare side, Rachel Huijsdens, along with the aforementioned American pair, delivering a big display under the boards, despite Deaja Richardson top-scoring on 25 for the visitors.
Defending champions, Killester confined Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers to a mere 18 points over the middle two quarters to exert a tight grip on their clash, running out 76-55 victors in St. Mary’s Hall on Saturday night.
Just a solitary point separated the two sides at the close of the first quarter, but by the start of the fourth, that gap had swollen to 29, the Dublin side finishing with four players in double figures, including top scorer, Ieva Bagdanaviciene on 23.
The Address UCC Glanmire lead the chasing pack after they recorded a 76-56 road win over Catalyst Fr. Mathews.
Callie Cavanaugh emerged the game’s top scorer on 26, with Aine McKenna and Annaliese Murphy tagging on a further 33 as Glanmire carded their third win of the campaign.
University of Galway Mystics were left rooted to the foot of the table after they suffered an 85-65 reversal at the hands of Utility Trust St. Paul’s in Sunday’s clash in University of Galway Kingfisher.
Megan Ormiston and Gracen Kerr, together, delivered a 51-point haul for the visitors, the two also combining with Mathilde Diop to soak up 34 rebounds on the day.
The Wildcats return to action on Sunday when they make the trip to take on the University of Galway Mystics at 1pm.
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