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ESB Women’s National Championships 2001
Bausch & Lomb Wildcats 60 (40) 70 (34) Sasha Meteors Jillian Hayes 27 20 Neassa O’Keeffe Olivia O’Reilly 11 16 Karen Hennessy Trish Nolan 6 14 Sinead Harvey A game which saw this year’s league and Cup champions be defeated for the first time in three years by a team other than Tolka Rovers. Wildcats looked tired throughout the game and shocked the crowd by going down 60-70 to do them great damage in the round-robin competition. The first quarter was basket for basket with Neassa O’Keeffe was in white-hot form starting the game with a two-pointer. Ciara Harvey man-marked Jillian Hayes in an attempt to keep her out of the game. With less than a minute to go, O’Keeffe hit a two-pointer to give Meteors a 5-point lead. A basket from Emma Griffin left Wildcats trailing 15-18 going into the second quarter.
With a minute gone in the second quarter, Hayes hit a two, to put Wildcats back in the lead for the second time. This quarter continued basket for basket until Olivia O’Reilly hit a three, followed by an unanswered two-pointer from Kim Fitzpatrick to give Wildcats a 28-23 lead. With three and a half minutes to play Neassa O’Keeffe levelled the game once again, 29-29. Wildcats captain picked up a technical to allow Meteors take the lead once again 34-33 with over a minute to play. Successive baskets from Jenny Coady and Catrina Whyte pushed Wildcats ahead 39-34 and a foul on Kiely with 4 seconds to play finished the first half 40-34.
Karen Hennessy came into the third quarter on fire and battled to bring Meteors back in front. With five minutes to play a foul on Sinead Harvey under the boards, gave her two free throws, from which she made both to level the side at 44pts apiece. Three unanswered baskets from O’Keeffe put Meteors ahead 50-44 with two minutes to play. Two big three-pointers form Sinead Harvey and Catrina O’Sullivan ensured a ten-point lead for Meteors going into the third quarter, 58-48.
The final quarter was basket for basket, and an exhausted looking Waterford side never looked victorious. A basket from Karen Hennessy stretched Meteors lead to 12-points with six minutes to go. A basket from Olivia O’Reilly with 2 minutes to play brought Wildcats back within 7 points of Meteors. A foul on Jillian Hayes had her at the free throw line and unbelievably, she missed both. Baskets from Hennessy and Sinead Harvey gave Meteors a comfortable ten-point victory to make them favourites for the national Championship title.
Bausch & Lomb Wildcats 81 (48) 70 (30) University of Limerick Olivia O’Reilly 23 14 Carol Fennell Jillian Hayes 16 14 Gillian Aherne Trish Nolan 13 9 Maura Guiney In a game in which Wildcats had to win by 11points or more to retain their shot at the hat trick, they allowed University of Limerick to take an early lead. Halfway through the first quarter, a basket from Eileen Lyons put Limerick 11-8 ahead and a foul on Sinead Leahy at the basket gave them the opportunity to stretch it further. Leahy made one from two at the line to give Limerick a 12-8 advantage. With two minutes to go in the first quarter, Wildcats came back on form, with a basket from Kim Fitzpatrick to put Wildcats out in front 16-14. Olivia O’Reilly hit a three to make it 19-16 and a foul on Trish Nolan under the basket allowed her to make two free shots from two. Jillian Hayes hit a basket on the buzzer to give Wildcats a 25-18 lead at the end of the first quarter. Wildcats came out in force in the second quarter and with three minutes gone, a three-pointer from Catrina Whyte gave Wildcats a 14-point lead, 34-20. Good work by Nikki Farrell and Carol Fennell tried to keep Limerick in touch, but hot shooting by Olivia O’Reilly saw Wildcats stretch their lead to 18 points going into half-time.
With three minutes gone in the third quarter, Gillian Aherne picked up a technical to allow Olivia O’Reilly another free shot to make it 54-32. A foul on player-coach Trish Nolan saw her make two from two to give Wildcats a 24-point lead. Good play by Maura Guiney and Derbhla Breen allowed University of Limerick to narrow the margin, but the hosts were down 18 points going into the final quarter, 68-50.
University of Limerick came into the final period fighting and an early three-pointer from Fennell brought Limerick within 13points of the Waterford side. With five minutes to go, a foul on Sinead Leahy saw her miss the first free shot and make the second to leave Wildcats 72-60 ahead. A minute to go in the game,
and Wildcats retained their strong position with a 77-64 lead. A basket from Gillian Aherne and an free throw for team fouls allowed Aherne to make it 77-67. Nollaig Cleary hit a basket to make it 77-69 with 22 seconds on the clock and Wildcats saw their hopes of staying in the competition slip away. Cleary was fouled and made one shot form two to make it 77-70, and this was where Limerick’s scoring came to an end. With 12 seconds on the clock Olivia O’Reilly hit a two to give Wildcats a 79-70 lead and with 1.1seconds on the clock, a foul on O’Reilly gave her the chance to keep Wildcats in the competition. O’Reilly hit the first basket to give them a ten point lead, and made the second to give them a much needed victory to stay in the running.
University of Limerick 61 (32) 73 (42) Sasha Meteors Maura Guiney 15 18 Neassa O’Keeffe Nollaig Cleary 12 12 Karen Hennessy Gillian Aherne 10 11 Catherine O’Sullivan Meteors took the tip off and followed with a basket to give them the first lead of the game. In the second and third minute University of Limerick scored 8 unanswered points, but Meteors came back to hit six successive points. Meteors led 17-12 with seven minutes remaining. Carroll Fennell hit a three to bring it back to two points, but Limerick than became unsettled, allowing a couple of turnovers and were outscored 8-3 in the last minutes. Meteors were up 25-18 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was basket for basket with Meteors holding onto a strong lead. With three minutes to go carol Fennell hit a basket to bring the game back to 30-37. A 3-ointer by Sinead Harvey extended Meteors lead 42-30, making the title look favourable for the visitors going into half-time.
The third quarter saw Maire Guiney and Derbhla Breen come into the game to bring Limerick back into contention. With 6.34 minutes remaining, Meteors led 43-45, when Derbhla Breen missed a lay-up that would have levelled the teams. Fouls on Karen Hennessy and Ciara Harvey again increased Meteor’s lead to 48-43. Limerick’s Gillian Aherne hit a basket with 5.11 showing on the clock and Limerick were not to score in the third quarter again until Maura Guiney got fouled under the boards with 25 seconds left. Limerick trailed 47-58 going into the final quarter.
With baskets from Nollaig Cleary and Sinead Leahy, Limerick brought the game back to six, but it was the closest they were to come. The game finished 61-73 to the Dublin team, crowning them the 2001 National Champions.
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