Ireland 73 Luxembourg 29

Ireland 73 Luxembourg 29

Ireland continued their build up to their opening European Championship game with an emphatic 73 - 29 win over Luxembourg at the National Basketball Arena.

Ireland won the opening friendly against the visitor’s (50-45) on Friday night and followed it up with an even greater margin in victory the following evening.

The future is certainly bright for the ‘girls in green’ with Sasa Punosevac welcoming several new and young faces into the squad.

An excellent display from Marie Breen largely contributed to a fine first quarter from Ireland with the home side leading 17 - 9.

It was Luxembourg who opened the scoring through Rachel Wagener before baskets from Marie Breen and Rachel Clancy settled Irish nerves. The visitor’s restored parity through Wagener but baskets from Breen, Michelle Fahy and Orla O’Reilly opened up a healthy gap between the sides.

Breen was tormenting Luxembourg and rounded off the quarter with two further baskets to leave Ireland ahead by eight heading into the second quarter. Luxembourg had something to cheer about in the closing stages with scores from Lisy Hetting, Kaatje Claes and Tessy Hetting ensuring they stayed in touch with the Irish.

The gap was extended to 12 points after the second interval with Fahy and Rachel Clancy being the main instigators of another fine period. A dogged Luxembourg threatened a comeback with the opening scores courtesy of Claes and Tessy Hetting.

However, scores from Fahy in quick succession and from O’Reilly, aided by the excellent work of Sinead O’Reilly had Sasa’s charges with a firm grip on the contest. (24-16)

Two excellently executed Jump shots from Rachel Clancy with a trio of free throws from Tessy Hetting resulted in Ireland going in at the break 28 - 16 ahead.

The dominance never relented in the opening play of the third quarter with a host of scores from Aisling O’Sullivan, Marie Breen and a trio of baskets from Fahy helping Ireland race into a 37-16 advantage.

Laure Diederich briefly put a halt to the dominance but baskets from Rachel Clancy and Fiona Scally maintained an excellent quarter.

In the final moments of the quarter, clinical scoring from Niamh Dwyer, O’Reilly, and two free throws from Fiona Scally left Ireland with an unassailable 28-point lead.

Scally extended the lead even further in the opening seconds of the final quarter with a basket and free throw before Claes and Lisy Hetting kept a respectable look to the scoreline.

Each quarter highlighted some excellent displays from the Irish youngsters with 17-year-old Sinead O’Reilly scoring twice in a matter of seconds. Ireland were in blistering form and two quick three pointers from Clancy and O’Reilly ensured a whopping 37 point advantage heading into the closing stages of this hugely entertaining contest.

Ireland refused to be content with their massive lead and completed an excellent night’s work on a final scoreline of of 73-29.

Top Scorers

Ireland

Michelle Fahy 13

Rachel Clancy 11

Marie Breen 11

Fiona Scally 11

Luxembourg

Tessy Hetting 12

Kaatje Claes 7

Lisy Hetting 4