Women's Super League
WIT Wildcats 73 LA Liffey Celtics 61
Matt Keane
Having lost their opening game of the season away to DCU, the WIT Wildcats got their campaign up and running in style in the Mercy Hall last night (Saturday).
The home side opened up brightly and they led 23-14 at the end of the first quarter. Led by the sublime Abby Flynn they were 42-28 at the interval. Liffey Celtics adopted a different defensive policy in the third quarter and they made life difficult for the hosts but they still had a 58-40 lead. The final quarter saw the Wildcats regain their free-flowing offensive play and they ran out 73-61 victors.
Abby Flynn led the charge by scoring 19 points. Rachel Thompson, the new American recruit scored 17 points in what was a very impressive debut for her. She missed out on the opening game due to a knee injury. Jazz Walker also played a vital role by notching 12 points. Unfortunately, she had to leave the court early in the fourth quarter when she twisted her ankle. Helena Rohan, Sinead Deegan, Cathy Kavanagh and Stephaine O'Shea also contributed some valuable baskets. Team. Abby Flynn, Helena Rohan, Sarah Hickey, Anna Grogan, Roybn Morrissey, Sinead Deegan, Illanna Fitzgerald, Rachel Thompson, Jazmine Walker, Cathy Kavanagh, Stephaine O'Shea, Eva Daniels.
First home game in two years
Tommy O'Mahony, the Wildcats Head Coach was extremely pleased with the performance of his charges when he spoke after the game. ``That was our first home game for two years and we played very well. Last week we played DCU and we did not play up to the standard I expect from the team. It was good to come out of the blocks quickly tonight and we played very well especially in the first and second quarters. They stunted us somewhat in the third quarter but we got it going once again in the fourth quarter.
"They set up a zone defence in the third quarter and that made things difficult for us because we couldn't get our shots away and I had to calm the girls down. We were fine in the last quarter again and we deserved to win the game.
"We were by far the best team. Abby Flynn was excellent but having said that had good players all over the court and coming off the bench. We play a high-intensity game and we have the players to do just that," Head Coach Tommy O'Mahony said.
"We play a high-intensity game and we have the players to do just that. Liffey Celtics are one of the top teams in the league. They won the league two years ago and they won the cup three years in a row so they are a top-class outfit. Jazz Walker did get injured so we will take a look at her during the week. We will need her because we play a doubleheader next week.
"We are away on Saturday and then we play Carlow here at 1.00pm on the Bank Holiday Monday so we will need all of our players for those games. Hopefully, we can be allowed to leave everyone in for the Carlow match because it would be great to have a full house for the first time in two years'' concluded Tommy.
