Mayo native in Ireland squad for FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 qualifiers
Mayo native Hazel Finn is in the Ireland squad for the three-game November window in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 qualifiers.
The Kiltimagh woman, who plays for Trinity Meteors, is one of 12 players picked by coach James Weldon for games against Luxembourg, Bosnia & Herzigovina, and Israel.
Apart from Finn, Claire Melia returns to play for Ireland for the first time since making history by winning a runners-up medal with BAXI Ferrol in the FIBA EuroCup Women last April.
Three players are in line for their FIBA Women’s EuroBasket debuts – Bronagh Power-Cassidy, Enya Maguire and Lorraine Scanlon.
Power-Cassidy and Maguire both made their international debuts against Estonia in August 2022, while Scanlon made her bow in the 78-63 win over Norway in July. Power-Cassidy has concluded an impressive Stateside career, where she finished the 15th highest scorer of all time with Holy Cross, on 1,425 points, winning the Patriot League twice. She then played for Villanova Wildcats during 2024/25 season and is now a graduate assistant coach with the team.
Maguire is another recent US college graduate and is now playing club basketball in Spain. She has featured regularly for Ireland in summer friendlies – against Estonia and Portugal in 2022, Uganda, Denmark and Netherlands in 2024, and against Norway in 2025. She also played with Ireland in the 2024 FIBA 3x3 Women’s World Series.
Scanlon (32), meanwhile, helped Utility Trust St. Paul’s to the Domino’s Women’s Super League final last season and is an inter-county footballer with Kerry.
Ireland begin their FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 qualifying campaign with two home games at the National Basketball Arena. They face Luxembourg at 5 p.m. on Wednesday (November 12) followed by Bosnia & Herzegovina at 7.25 p.m. on Saturday (November 15), both of which are live on TG4. Ireland are scheduled to face Israel in Riga, Latvia, next Tuesday (November 18).
Ireland defeated Norway twice last July, with the second of those a 75-67 success in a behind-closed-doors contest.
Looking forward to the qualifiers, Weldon said: “Our squad is in good shape. Claire Melia is coming off the back of a hugely impressive FIBA EuroCup Women silver medal last season with her club, BAXI Ferrol. We also have some positive momentum thanks the two friendly wins over Norway in the summer.
“I’m delighted to welcome Bronagh Power-Cassidy, Enya Maguire and Lorraine Scanlon into the squad for these FIBA Women’s EuroBasket games. Each of them is really excited about the prospect of making their competition debut. Bronagh and Enya had distinguished college careers in the States, while Lorraine was influential in getting Utility Trust St. Paul’s to the Domino’s Women’s Super League final last season.
“This November window presents a tough challenge for the squad, with three games in six days. Our two home games against Luxembourg and Bosnia & Herzegovina will hopefully give us a good platform to build on, as naturally we’re eager to get some wins early in the campaign to give us the best possible shot of making the second round of qualifying.”
The winners and runners-up from each of the seven groups qualify for the second round of FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 qualifiers, along with the three best-ranked third-placed teams.
Tickets for Ireland’s FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers against Luxembourg and Bosnia & Herzegovina can be purchased here.
The Ireland squad in full is as follows: Hazel Finn (Trinity Meteors), Edel Thornton (Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell), Sorcha Tiernan (FloMAX Liffey Celtics), Abigail Rafferty (GDESSA-Barreiro, Portugal), Bridget Herlihy (unattached), Bronagh Power-Cassidy (Villanova Wildcats), Enya Maguire (HGB Horbisa Greenkw Barakaldo, Spain), Lorraine Scanlon (Utility Trust St. Paul’s), Claire Melia (BAXI Ferrol, Spain), Michelle Clarke (Killester), Sarah Hickey (SETU Waterford Wildcats), Kate Hickey (SETU Waterford Wildcats).