Downtown disappointment for Panthers as they slip to defeat against St. Paul’s
Alyssa Velles was disappointed with Portlaoise Panthers return from shots in the loss to St Paul's on Sunday Photo: David Maher
MIDLANDS Park Portlaoise Panthers were made to rue their disappointing return off the three-point line as they lost out to Utility Trust St. Paul’s in their Women’s Super League clash in St. Mary’s Hall on Sunday afternoon, with shooting guard, Alyssa Velles insisting that they still have to find a way to win when that side of their game is not functioning.
The hosts converted just 14 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc in contrast to the 52 percent success rate of their Killarney rivals, Lovisa Hevinder, Maisie Burnham and Tara Cousins inflicting the bulk of the damage from that area for the visitors, as they combined for 58 points.
Portlaoise, instead, had to look to their inside players, Jessica Fressle and Christiana Oijide Boiko for the majority of their buckets, and while the two totalled 31 points, it was not enough to see their side prevail, as they slipped to one from two in the top ranks.
“The shots just weren't falling for us today, but we can't always rely on the three-pointers going in, so we need to find another way to put the ball in the basket, whether it's getting it inside and then fighting the kick outs after that” Velles told the after Sunday’s fulltime buzzer.
“I think we just fell into a hole too early in the game and it was just about trying to dig our way back then for the rest of it, and we just couldn't piece it all together.
“Maybe if we’d had another 10 minutes, we could have pulled it back then, but I think we just need to come out a bit stronger at the start of the game.
“St. Paul’s are building, coming up from National League two seasons ago and they've definitely continued to add value with the pros they’ve brought in. But we just let them get off to a hot start and then from there, they just added to it,” sighed the American.
Indeed, it was not the start to this game that Portlaoise would have been hoping for, as early threes from Hevinder and Burnham helped see the visitors chalk up eight points by the time Peter O’Sullivan’s side opened their own account by way of two free throws from Lynn Tunnah.
St. Paul’s continued on to extend that lead to 14-3, but Portlaoise began to work their way back with baskets from Ojida, Holli Dunne, Tunnah and Fressle, along with a treble from Velles, so that by the end of the first quarter they trailed by just two (18-16).
Yet a six-point run helped St. Paul’s open up a little more breathing room in the second, during which Lorraine Scanlon and Burnham each posted nine points to help leave their side ahead by 12 (39-27) at the half-time interval.
Portlaoise, however, kept their opponents very much within sight throughout the third quarter thanks in no small measure to Fressle who served up 11 points, with Megan Dunne also draining a much-needed three.
But another two efforts off the line by Hevinder helped keep the visitors out in front as they led by nine (52-43) heading into the fourth.
Portlaoise really began to turn up the heat down the stretch, twice working their way back to within three points of their opponents, as Ojide got some return in the paint along with Tunnah and Sarah Fleming.
But every time they appeared set to overtake, Cousins or Burnham landed absolute daggers to see St. Paul’s pull clear, and two threes from the former over the closing couple of minutes ensured they would not be caught.
While it was a disappointing result for Panthers, they will be hoping to make a swift return to winning ways next Saturday when they make the trip to Virginia Show Centre to take on the newly-promoted McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles who are still awaiting their first victory in top flight basketball.
“We know Cavan very well” said Velles. “We faced them about four times I think in our last year in National League before we came up to Super League.
“It'll be a battle for the whole 40 minutes, especially in their place. They draw a great home crowd and they're a good team, so we can't take that away from them.
“We just have to work hard this week, try to improve on our mistakes and continue to build on the strengths that we have,” she stressed.
Holli Dunne, Ciara Byrne, Megan Dunne, Lynn Tunnah, Jasmine Burke, Christiana Ojida Boiko, Jessica Fressle, Sarah Fleming, Alyssa Velles.
Jessica Fressle (18), Christiana Ojida Boiko (13), Lynn Tunnah (11).
Ciara O’Sullivan, Tara Cousins, Leah McMahon, Annie Brosnan, Maisie Burnham, Denise Dunlea, Lorraine Scanlon, Lovisa Hevinder.
Tara Cousins (22), Maisie Burnham (21), Lovisa Hevinder (15), Lorraine Scanlon (10).
