Portlaoise bring the curtain down on tough WSL season with loss to Trinity
Alyssa Velles has been one of Portlaoise Panthers outstanding players this season and again on Saturday she topped scored against Trinity Meteors Photo: David Maher
TRINITY METEORS 85
MIDLANDS PARK PORTLAOISE PANTHERS 64
A 21-POINT defeat at the hands of Trinity Meteors in Coláiste Íosagáin on Saturday evening brought the curtain down on, what has been a tough season in Domino’s Women’s Super League for Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers.
Peter O’Sullivan’s side struggled to put together any semblance of a run this season, ending their 2025/26 campaign with just six points, and those two wins coming at the expense of the relegated Catalyst Fr. Mathews.
Against Trinity last weekend, they put up a gritty show with three players finishing in double digits, including Alyssa Velles on 18 points, while Lynn Tunnah and Jessica Fressle, between them, notched up a further 31.
But Trinity were able to hit that bit harder on their runs, helped no end by the game-high 22 points served up by Kylie Horstmeyer, who together with Ava Learn, soaked up 21 rebounds on the day.
Hazel Finn and Aisling Moran, themselves, delivered for the home side with a combined 36 points, the former also finishing with eight assists to boot, as they ended the season level on points with Brunell, Waterford Wildcats and Liffey Celtics on 30 apiece.
A deuce from Fressle, followed by a three from Velles, helped Portlaoise into an early 5-2 lead, but the hosts quickly found their feet and strung together a huge 15-point run that included four buckets from Finn and efforts from both sides of the arc by Horstmeyer.
Another shot off the three-point line by Velles got Panthers going again, and they continued to chip away at the deficit, as Megan Dunne and Tunnah also struck from downtown either side of a Holli Dunne deuce.
Those scores helped cut the gap to six points (28-22) by the end of the first quarter and two free-throws from Fressle had it back to four, only to see Trinity respond with the next nine as Horstmeyer, Ava Learn and Catherine Connaire all put the ball through the string, while Finn landed a shot from outside.
Tunnah halted that run with two free throws, but it failed to spark a much-needed surge for the visitors, as the two sides went blow-for-blow over the closing five minutes of the first half, Jasmine Burke getting on the scoresheet for Portlaoise before Velles struck from range, leaving it 47-35 at the recess.
Trinity kept their foot on the pedal when they returned to the court for the second half, a further eight unanswered points helping them in that endeavour, as Aisling Moran twice delivered big hits from downtown in less than a minute.
A layup from Fressle punctuated that run, but again Meteors responded with interest as Moran, Helena Keane and Horstmeyer struck in the paint before Tunnah got in for another Panthers deuce.
The visitors did manage to keep their Dublin rivals scoreless for the remaining three minutes of the third, while they recouped seven points, courtesy of Holli Dunne, Fressle and Tunnah to whittle down the gap to 16 (68-52).
It was still very much a long way back for O’ Sullivan’s crew, who did manage to chalk up the opening five points of the fourth quarter as Shauna Dooley’s brace was quickly followed by three from Velles to bring it back to 11.
But just when it seemed that Portlaoise were garnering some much-needed momentum, the scores suddenly dried up for a five-minute spell, during which time Trinity put up a further 12 points, as Finn managed to drain shorts from both sides of the arc, with Moran also delivering from range.
That rocketed them 23 points clear with just three minutes remaining, leaving Portlaoise with no way back into contention, despite Fressle picking up a further several points from the floor and free-throw line.
TRINITY METEORS: Hazel Finn, Catherine Connaire, Helena Keane, Martina Destro, Ciara Mulligan, Aisling Moran, Franciska Treiliha, Ava Learn, Kylie Horstmeyer.
Top Scorers: Kylie Horstmeyer (22), Hazel Finn (19), Aisling Moran (17).
MIDLANDS PARK PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Holli Dunne, Shauna Dooley, Megan Dunne, Lynn Tunnah, Jasmine Burke, Jessica Fressle, Sarah Fleming, Alyssa Velles.
Top Scorers: Alyssa Velles (18), Lynn Tunnah (16), Jessica Fressle (15).
