NUIG Ladies basketball are celebrating their recent success at the recent All-Ireland Intervarsity Championships.
The Galway ladies defeated Trinity College Dublin to win the Women’s B title on a score line of 68 – 35, with Ailish O’Reilly and Leah Cunningham awarded All-Stars in recognition of their outstanding performances.
NUIG head cach Mike Murray, impressed with the team’s commitment throughout, says NUIG can now lookg forward to the challenge of A basketball next year.
Despite a nervous start from both teams, NUIG found their feet after captain Meabh Malone scored with a deep three. The Galway team's quick transition from defence to offence kept TCD scoreless until Sarah McGrath’s aggressive cut to the basket rewarded in the Dublin side’s first score. But with NUIG's Ailish O'Reilly controlling the tempo and finding Lauren Murray for open jump shots, NUIG jumped into a 19-6 lead.
NUIG maintained their tempo and continued to push, resulting in fast break lay-ups to extend their half-time lead to 38-19.
Although TCD attempted to chip away, excellent team defence from Malone and Lauren Murray kept the TCD guards from penetrating. Tena Thornton and Sarah Tierney controlled the boards, and again Ailish O'Reilly was the catalyst for the Galway side as she continued to find open players in the paint to see them increase their lead to 51-28 at the end of the third quarter. NUIG rotated their bench in the fourth quarter, finishing comfortable 68 - 35 winners.
