DART Killester through to women’s final

Mustang Sally's, St Paul's 56 DART Killester 78

Dart Killester have progressed to the finals of the Women's National Cup after a hard-fought win over Mustang Sally's St Paul's in the National Basketball Arena tonight.

Ashley Luke hit five of Killester's first eight points, as they ran into a 10-2 lead. From then on, St Paul's were playing catch up, with the first quarter ending 25-16 to Killester.

St Paul's refused to buckle however, and fought their way back into the game, thanks to the hard work and persistence of Lynn Jones, Dara Barret and Carrie Walker.

Within the first two minutes they had closed the gap to four points, and Walker's rebounding at both ends meant that Killester were finding it hard to get scores.

A three-pointer by Lynn Jones on the half time buzzer made it a one-point game, Killester ahead 33-34.

The game continued to be tight in the third quarter, until DART managed to put daylight between the teams in the latter stages. A basket on the buzzer from Killester's Gillian Morris sent her team in 5 points up, 49-54.

In the final quarter neither team managed to register a score for the first two minutes, until a three point play from Ashley Luke set Killester on their way.

Baskets from Carmel Kissane and a three from Suzanne Maguire saw the Dubliners pull away, and despite valiant efforts from Jones and Walker, St Pauls' were unable to break down the Killester defence.

Indeed, they only registered 7 points in the final quarter to Killester's 24, and that sealed their faith, Killester closing out the game to win 78 - 56.

In the other semi-final, UL Aughinish overcame an early scare on the way to an 85-54 victory over Vienna Woods Glanmire, maintaining their unbeaten record and making it through to their third National Cup Final in a row.