Women’s Superleague Basketball
Utility Trust St Paul’s 89
University of Galway Mystics 54
Report: Enda Walshe
Utility Trust St Paul’s maintained their push for a play-off place with a comfortable home win over the University of Galway Mystics.
Even without the influence of Alex Wittinger, who was resting a hand injury, they had too much for the westerners as a flying start laid the foundations for the win. It was their third victory in a row and it sets up a mouthwatering clash in Portlaoise next weekend.
Truth be told, James Fleming’s side have what could be billed as four cup finals in the coming weeks but they come into the business part of the season in the best possible form.
The dye was cast in the opening quarter as they flew out of the traps and built up an early unassailable lead. Mathilde Diop. Lorraine Scanlon and Gracen Kerr were all in sync from the get go. The opening points of the game were all gleaned from the free-throw line and indeed the Mystics were in team foul trouble as early as the fifth minute.
Diop, Scanlon and Kerr all cashed in from the charity stripe to build up a 5-1 lead. The next phase of the game saw St Paul’s really open up with some fast ball movement and it saw Scanlon and Diop at their most prominent. With his team in full flow Fleming rotated his line up with Rheanne O’Shea, Siofra O’Shea and Leah McMahon helping to keep the tempo high.
Kara McCleane, Meabh O’Brien and Shannon Cunningham did their utmost to quell the storm but Diop and Lynn Jones finished the quarter with threes to give their side a 28-9 lead.
The Mystics started the second quarter brightly with Lily Hynes supplementing Cunningham but Scanlon snapped that streak. Kerr took centre stage then, a nice exchange with Scanlon leading to a three and then taking delivery of a Diop assist to net. Ava McCleane made it a sister act for the Mystics but Scanlon and Diop were now dominating. A Siofra O ‘Shea three closed the half with St Pauls 45-25 to the good.
Meabh O’Brien hit an early third quarter three but that only spurred St Paul’s on with Scanlon and Rheanne O’Shea profiting. Diop went on to hit two more from downtown and when Captain Dunlea netting they were 57-32 to the good,
The McCleanes and Cunningham were working hard but could do little in the face of a rampant St Paul’s with Kerr, Leah McMahon after a nice spin move and Dunlea all on the mark. Laura Lopez climbed off the Galway bench to good effect but it was now 67-42 as the teams turned for home.
O’Brien hit from downtown at the start of the fourth but with St Paul’s rotating their line up the pace of the game didn’t let up. Rheanne O’Shea followed up a neat lay up with a three and Leah McMahon was enjoying her return from injury, contributing six points. Lynn Jones hit another signature three and, despite the best efforts of Shannon Cunningham and the McKleanes, it ended up a routine win for St Paul’s, on an 89-54 scoreline.
Speaking after the game Leah McMahon was glad to be back in action: “I missed it when I wasn’t playing so I really enjoyed being back on the court. Even though I wasn’t playing the Killester Cup semi-final really hurt but we’ve being using that hurt since to get our season going.”
Lorraine Scanlon, who hit 18 points, acknowledged the importance of the latest win to the squad: “It’s great to get everyone out on court, getting to know the plays and contributing to the scoreboard. The last month has given us great momentum but we must use that between here and the end of the season to make the playoffs.”
Next Sunday’s trip to Portlaoise is the first of four games which will decide St Paul’s play-off fate. Trinity Meteors visit Killarney on the first Saturday in March with the following weekend bringing a trip to the sunny South East and the Waterford Wildcats.
The last game of the regular season sees Fr Mathews come to Killarney on March 15. There is a very congested look to the middle of the league table with those sides knowing than a run of wins can cement their place in the play-off berths
Scorers: Gracen Kerr hit 21, Mathilde Diop 20, Lorraine Scanlon 18, Leah McMahon eight, Rheanne O’Shea seven, Lynn Jones and Denise Dunlea sixeach and Siofra O’Shea three.
For the Mystics Kara McCleane shot 17, Shannon Cunningham had 13, Meabh O Brien 10 and Ava McCleane six.
Advertisers: Reach several thousand readers every day. Call 087-2229761 or email news@killarneytoday.com
