St Pauls host Templeogue in League semi-final

MISSQUOTE.IE WOMEN’S NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE SEMI-FINAL

ST Pauls will play Templeogue in their National League semi-final this Saturday in the in the Presentation Gym in Killarney at 4pm.

The club from Dublin’s south side finished second in the Northern Conference, grabbing 12 wins and losing just four times. An interesting insight into their four losses is that three of them were to Southern Conference sides, namely the two Limericks, Celtics and Huskies, and St Pauls.

The Limerick defeats were in the Treaty City and St Pauls inflicted the sole home defeat on them back in November. That defeat, on a 74-67 scoreline, could come with an asterisk as one of their two Americans Madeline Holland was playing with an injury and her contribution was curtailed. They started the season with five straight wins and Californian Holland has been their mainstay.

Alisha Lewis is a graduate of the University

of Georgia and she has averaged 15 points per game this season. Lynn Tunnah has been in outstanding form recently and chipped in 24 points last time out against St Pauls. Their most recent win against Dublin rivals and Northern Conference top dogs Swords Thunder was very impressive and Aoife Whelan and Aoife Byrne were central to that triumph.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is probably one of the biggest women’s basketball games to be played in Killarney and a huge home support is expected to cheer the team on, with promotion to the Super League only two wins away for either side.

Swords Thunder entertain the Limerick Celtics in the other semi-final. Utility Trust St Pauls 100 Marble City Hawks 46

UTILITY Trust St Pauls limbered up for their massive league semi-final with a routine win over the Marble City Hawks in Kilkenny on Saturday. With a busy few weeks for some of the squad with other commitments coach James Fleming chose to assign some downtime to some integral figures with Lorraine Scanlon, Niamh Ni Chonchuir, Siobhan Burns and Leah McMahon all on the easy list with GAA commitments.

It did little to disrupt the rhythm that they have been accumulating of late and also had the upside of giving much deserved game time to the likes of Cliona Coffey. MVP last weekend Meabh Barry continued her good vein of form while the usual suspects of Khiarica Rasheed and Sofia Paska led the scoring returns. With Rheanne O’Shea and Denise Dunlea to the fore, the Hawks, without their Americans Briana Bailey and Olivia Crigler, had no answer to the visitors despite the efforts of Aoibhin Dunphy and Faye McDonnell.

Gemma Lawlor and Faye McDonnell gave the Hawks a quick start but Khiarica Rasheed, who was prolific in this quarter, quickly responded as did Sofia Paska. Aoibhin Dunphy and McDonnell kept the Hawks in touch but Rasheed was rampant at this stage . Denise Dunlea, who started on the bench, poured in five points and St Pauls ominously opened up a 28-15 first quarter lead.

The dye was now well and truly cast with St Pauls remaining dominant through the strong play of Sofia Paska with Rheanne O’Shea and Meabh Barry scoring at will. The two Aoibhinns, Dunphy and Timmons, were doing their utmost but Paska and Rasheed were dominant, helping St Pauls into a 49-27 interval advantage.

Rheanne O’Shea kick-started a third quarter purple patch, she hit eight points early, Denise Dunlea and Meabh Barry taking the cue to open it out to 68-31. Dunphy and McDonnell tried to arrest the slide but Paska and Rasheed kept the score ticking going into the last quarter.

The final quarter was a formality despite Mc Donnell raging against the fading light. Paska, Rasheed and O’Shea all chipped in a further five points each, Lynn Jones hit her customary three to help St Pauls hit the century mark. TOP SCORERS ST PAULS: Sofia Paska 27, Khiarica Rasheed 26, Rheanne O’Shea 16, Denise Dunlea 13, Lynn Jones 5, Cliona Coffey 2. MARBLE CITY HAWKS: Faye McDonnell 14, Aoibhin Dunphy 12, Aoibhinn Timmons 8, Gemma Lawlor 7, Maria Connolly 5.