Mayo native impresses as Ireland defeat top group seeds in Euro qualifier

With Mayo native Hazel Finn to the fore, Ireland put in an offensive and defensive masterclass to defeat Group A top seeds Bosnia & Herzegovina 94-67 and register Ireland’s first win since the team’s return to FIBA Women’s EuroBasket in 2021.

A delighted Ireland captain Edel Thornton said: “We’ve now shown ourselves and everyone in the country that we are a force to be reckoned with.”

Ireland, ranked 83rd in the FIBA World Rankings, downed the 29th ranked Bosnia & Herzegovina in impressive fashion, and it was welcome response to 69-53 defeat inflicted by Luxembourg last Wednesday.

The hosts were quick out of the blocks against Bosnia & Herzigovina, racing into an 11-4 lead three and a half minutes in, helped by threes from Thornton and Finn.

Bosnia & Herzegovina brought it level at 11-11 by the midpoint of the quarter, following Ajla Selimovic’s lay-up under the basket. But Ireland would lead thereafter, responding with an Enya Maguire three and a Lorraine Scanlon lay-up to put them 16-11 up.

Scanlon was picked out with a long range pass from Thornton and landed another lay-up from under the basket. Her tally was now seven points and Ireland were 24-15 up with a minute to go. Bridget Herlihy’s three completed a fine opening quarter to give Ireland a 27-15 advantage.

Back-to-back lay-ups from Finn and Claire Melia had Ireland 33-22 up three and a half minutes into the second quarter. Bosnia’s naturalised American Kamiah Smalls was getting into her stride and brought it to within two, 36-34, with less than a minute to go, but lay-ups from Scanlon and Sarah Hickey either side of Smalls’ free throws gave Ireland a 40-36 half-time lead.

Ireland began the third quarter strongly, kickstarted by a Melia three. Thornton followed her lay-up under the basket with a fine steal at the opposite end and then drew a foul, the Ireland captain converting her two free throws to put her team 51-42 up three minutes in.

The hosts continued to build a score thanks to a pair of Finn lay-ups and one each from Scanlon and Thornton to give them a 17-point lead, 59-42, midway through the quarter.

Thornton and Smalls exchanged three’s and it was 63-49 with three minutes to go. Ireland finished the quarter with four Melia free throws to leave them with a commanding 69-51 lead, Melia’s tally up to 13 points.

Ireland didn’t relent in the final quarter. A Hickey three got James Weldon’s side off to the start they wanted, and the SETU Waterford Wildcats player drained another with 5’ 36” left on the clock to put Ireland 77-55 to the good. The tempo didn’t let up, and Bridget Herlihy picked up five points in the final 30 seconds, including a buzzer-beating three at the death, to cap a brilliant team performance.

Thornton commented: “It has been a long time coming. We haven’t won a competitive game in a long time. I am thrilled that we did it with authority – we didn’t just win, we won well, so it’s great.”

She added: “We’ve been through a lot, a lot of ups and downs and a lot has happened in the team emotionally. I think this boosts us to show us we’ve earned the right to be here. We speak about it all the time; we never go in thinking anyone is way better than us, but we’ve now shown ourselves and everyone in the country that we are a force to be reckoned with.”

Ireland head coach James Weldon stated: “It’s incredible! I am just so proud of the team.We talked about it, that we’ve had some really special nights here in the (National Basketball) Arena without sealing the deal, but we’ve really put ourselves back in with a shot of qualifying, which is always the goal, and the points aggregate is going to be great going into Tuesday’s game and the next phase in March.

“We’ve got so much to play for. We were so disappointed with Wednesday night, but credit to each of those women, they stood up to the plate and delivered.”

Finn finished with 16 points to her name, with Sarah Hickey and Edel Thornton scoring 15 each.

Ireland face Israel in their next Group A game on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Riga, Latvia.