Back-to-back wins for Portlaoise women as they see off Galway in Super League
Ciara Byrne scored a cracking three-pointer in Portlaoise Panthers defeat of Galway Mystics Photo: Paul Dargan
University Of Galway Mystics 62
Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers 88
MIDLANDS Park Portlaoise Panthers made it back-to-back victories in Women’s Super League ahead of the international break as they picked up full points on the road at the expense of bottom side University of Galway Mystics on Saturday afternoon.
A big second-quarter performance, in which they outscored their hosts by 16 points, went a long way to seeing Portlaoise secure their sixth win of this campaign, and, subsequently, a move of two places up to sixth in the table.
On a day that saw everyone on the Portlaoise roster get on the score sheet, it was Jessica Fressle who emerged the game’s top scorer on 24 points, while also combining with Lynn Tunnah for 19 rebounds.
Tunnah, herself, drained half of her six attempts from beyond the arc on her way to a total of 13 points, while Alyssa Velles put up 17 on the scoreboard, to help counter the combined 41 that Kara McCleane and Shannon Cunningham served up for a Galway side that kept battling right to the final buzzer.
Speaking to the after the game, Portlaoise head coach, Peter O’Sullivan remarked: “It was a good team performance, with all players getting good minutes under their belt.
“We didn’t start off the best. We struggled a bit on the defensive end, but they still put up a big score in the first quarter.
“We got on top of Galway in defence in the second which gave us a good lead at half-time.
“We had big scores from Alyssa and Jess today and everyone who came on performed really well, so it’s great to take that ahead of some very important games coming up.
“We did have a high number of turnovers again today, but it gives us something to work on heading into the international break,” he added.
It was a relatively bright start to this tie by Galway, Cunningham, Kara McCleane and Isabella Quinn serving up buckets to put them 9-4 in front with just over four minutes gone.
But Portlaoise soon began to exert a grip on proceedings, Fressle getting in for a three-point play as she combined with Amy Dooley for 13 in the opening quarter, while Tunnah executed from both sides of the arc to help see their side overtake into 24-18 lead.
It was pretty much one-way traffic in the second quarter as Panthers served up 13 unanswered points, Holli Dunne and Velles each taking two from the free-throw line either side of another big score from downtown by Tunnah.
And even when Galway did get going again by way of a deuce apiece from Ava and Kara McCleane, the visitors hit back strongly with sublime three-point efforts from Ciara Byrne and Shauna Dooley ahead of a Jasmine Burke basket that helped push their lead out to 22 points (46-24) by the half-time recess.
Galway mounted more of a stand when they returned to the court after the break, reducing their arrears to 17 following a six-point run that included buckets from the McCleanes and Cunningham.
Fressle arrested that mini-surge when she struck from the perimeter, and while Galway did serve up two threes from Quinn and Cunningham over the closing 30 seconds of the third quarter, Megan Dunne got in for a buzzer-beating deuce that helped keep Portlaoise 20 points in front (65-45).
The hosts struggled to make any significant in-roads into the deficit throughout the fourth, Velles putting up nine points for Panthers in that period, while Shauna Dooley, Byrne and Tunnah all delivered from beyond the arc to help keep Galway very much at bay.
Next up for Portlaoise after the international break this week will be a trip to defending Women’s Super League champions, Killester on Saturday 15 February.
UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY MYSTICS: Caoimhe O’Sullivan, Laura Morera, Gemma Brennan, Meadhbh O’Brien, Isabella Quinn, Lily Hynes, Ava McCleane, Kara McCleane, Molly Larkin, Shannon Cunningham.
Top Scorers: Kara McCleane (22), Shannon Cunningham (19), Ava McCleane (13).
MIDLANDS PARK PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Holli Dunne, Shauna Dooley, Ciara Byrne, Megan Dunne, Lynn Tunnah, Jasmine Burke, Jessica Fressle, Amy Dooley, Alyssa Velles.
Top Scorers: Jessica Fressle (24), Alyssa Velles (17), Lynn Tunnah (13), Shauna Dooley (9), Ciara Byrne (8).
