Tiernan makes huge impact as Ireland rebound in Bosnia for first road win in five years

MAJOR SAY: Sorcha Tiernan’s impact off the bench helped Ireland to take down Bosnia. Photo: Sean Brilly

Ireland overhauled a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to pick up their first away win in FIBA Women’s EuroBasket since returning to Europe’s top tier in 2021, defeating Group A top seeds Bosnia and Herzegovina 81-78 in Zenica on Saturday.

Sorcha Tiernan made a telling impact off the bench with seven points in the final quarter, while Hazel Finn led the offensive charge on 21 points, to help the team to victory. The win means that if Ireland secure victory over Israel on Tuesday they will reach the second round of FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers, as one of three best ranked third-placed teams from seven groups.

Ireland, ranked 83rd in the FIBA World Rankings, certainly weren’t overawed by their task against the 29th-ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina, who they’d beaten in Dublin in November. There was little to separate the sides in the opening quarter, a three from Edel Thornton had Ireland trailing 6-5 four minutes in. An Enya Maguire three and a Sarah Hickey layup nudged Ireland 15-12 up with two minutes to go. Kamiah Smalls, was starting to exert her influence and brought matters level shortly afterwards with a three. It would be 17-17 by the end of the quarter - Abigail Rafferty’s layup bringing parity to proceedings.

A seven point run put Bosnia and Herzegovina 30-24 up four minutes into the second quarter – Smalls was central to it, with five of those seven points. A Maura Fitzpatrick three snapped the home sides run. Dragana Domuzin’s driving layup and free throw had Bosnia ahead by six once more, 35-29, with 3’41 to go. Finn then unleashed back-to-back threes, her second a neat step-back one, to make it 35-35 with a little over two minutes to go.

Smalls was Bosnia’s main threat, even when she had two players closing her down she picked out Ajla Hidic for a three to help Bosnia and Herzegovina into a 44-39 lead. A Finn driving layup cut the deficit, before Smalls downed her fourth from the three point line with the last play, to put Bosnia 47-41 ahead at half-time. The American-born player had 18 points by the break, while Finn was just behind on 17.

Bosnia and Herzegovina were ahead by seven, 52-45, following a layup and two free throws by Domuzin. Ireland responded with a nine point run, kickstarted by a Thornton driving layup, followed by Fitzpatrick’s three and back-to-back baskets by Rafferty, to nudge Ireland 54-52 up four and a half minutes in. It was Bosnia’s turn to ramp things up, Smalls’ floating jump shot and driving layup had the home side 60-54 up. Bronagh Power-Cassidy’s three was the only respite, as Bosnia opened up a nine point lead, 66-57, following Smalls’ three with 45 seconds left. Two Maguire free throws cut the deficit slightly.

Sara Herceg’s three at the start of the fourth put Bosnia into their biggest lead, 10 points, 69-59. Ireland dragged themselves back into contention helped by some dogged defence after that. They were within two points, 69-67, following threes by Sarah Hickey and Maguire, and a Fitzpatrick layup just under four minutes in.

A corner three by Ena Sehovic – picked out by Smalls – had Bosnia up by five, before Sorcha Tiernan rattled off five points herself, to bring matters level at 72 apiece with 4’18 to go. Tiernan then picked out Rafferty for a layup to put Ireland ahead for the first time since early in the second quarter. The FloMAX Liffey Celtics player was having a serious impact from the bench, she then downed a lovely reverse layup to put Ireland 76-72 up with two and a half minutes to go. Domuzin and Finn traded layups after that.

Ena Sehovic’s layup made it a two-point game, 78-76, with 19 seconds remaining, Thornton then converted one of her two free throw attempts. A Hercog driving layup followed and just a single point separated the sides. Crucially Ireland had possession and once the ball was inbounded Finn picked up a foul, the Trinity Meteors player slotted two nerveless free throws with 1.5 seconds on the clock to secure an impressive 81-78 win.

Ireland women’s head coach, James Weldon, said: “I am just so happy for the group. It has been a tough week of travel and everything and they all remained so positive, the staff and the players have been incredible the last few days. They (Bosnia and Herzegovina) were at home, they were going to be fighting hard for the win, they haven’t won in a while and they came very, very close. 

"I just thought so many different people stepping up and coming up with big plays, absolutely delighted. It is a big step forward for the programme, a first home win and now a first away win and we have a real chance on Tuesday to finish as one of the best-placed third-placed teams. Looking at the other groups today, results went our way, so a win on Tuesday would take us into the second round. I think on the back of that performance these players deserve that, hopefully we can pull out another performance out of the bag on Tuesday."

Ireland face Israel in their final Group A game in a behind closed doors fixture on Tuesday at 1630 in Riga, Latvia.

Ireland: Michelle Clarke (DNP), Sarah Hickey (11), Hazel Finn (21), Emer Dunne (DNP) Enya Maguire (8), Edel Thornton (12), Abigail Rafferty (8), Annaliese Murphy (DNP), Maura Fitzpatrick (8), Sorcha Tiernan (7), Lorraine Scanlon (1), Bronagh Power-Cassidy (5) 

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Kamiah Smalls (27), Amina Smaka (DNP), Jovana Milakovic (1), Ajla Hidic (3), Dragana Domuzin (17), Andela Sipka (3), Marija Damjanovic (DNP), Ajla Selimovic (9), Almedina Ahmic (0), Ena Sehovic (9), Sara Herceg (5) Jana Guska (4)