Sunday, March 26th will see the Waterford Wildcats head to Cork for a Champions Trophy semi-final date with Glanmire.
One year down the road from their semi-final loss to another Cork side in Brunell, Tommy O' Mahony's team will be hoping to capitalise on some impressive late-season form in order to book their place in the decider.
Their challenge will be great, however. Glanmire are back-to-back regular season champions, topping the table with 6 and 9-point cushions in the last two seasons.
The Cork outfit have been the dominant force in women's basketball this past decade, winning 5 of the 9 titles on offer in that time - the 2021/22 season was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic. They also won the Paudie O Connor cup last year, but were knocked out in the first round this year, losing to eventual runners-up Trinity Metoers.
A massive feather in the Wildcats cap is their win over Glanmire in their final regular season game in recent weeks.
Tommy O' Mahony's team were 2 points ahead of Glanmire at the final whistle to consolidate fourth place in the table. That defeat is one of only two losses the champions suffered in the 2022/23 league season.
The two sides will be all too familiar with one another when the game tips off this Sunday and the Wildcats will be hoping to once again upset the odds makers with a win.
"Glanmire are league champions, you know they've only been beaten twice this year and thankfully one of those losses was to us," said Head Coach O' Mahony.
"We know it's going to be a tough encounter," he added, "it's something we're really looking forward to. It's a National semi-final, this is where everyone wants to be. It's a really big test, but we can't wait for it now."
Having ended the regular season in fourth place, the Wildcats had earned their playoff spot. They played Killester at the Mercy Gym last Saturday and needed to fight tooth and nail to get over the line.
The teams were level on 52 points with just four minutes remaining, but some superb shooting from the home team saw them outscore the visitors 11 points to 4 to seal victory.
"We played them four times this year and we did win three times, but they are definitely a cup team," says guard Kate Hickey, adding "their Americans are unbelievable that they can pull out these mad shots at the last minute to win games."
Killester had beaten the Wildcats in the cup earlier this season, and while the Waterford side had ended the regular season above Killester in the table, Hickey says, "it was like, we really need to fight to win this game and get one back from the cup."
That result leaves them with the unenviable challenge of a now-wounded Glanmire. The Cork supremos - who finished top of the table once again - earned themselves an automatic semi-final spot, with DCU also straight through thanks to their second-place finish.
The extra week break may well make all the difference for the Cork side, who will have home advantage in the Mardyke this Sunday with a capacity crowd expected at the Leeside venue.
Tip-off is at 1.30 pm, Sunday, March 26th.
