Velles strikes late to help see Portlaoise women clinch dramatic opening night win in Cork

Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League Catalyst Fr. Mathews 69 Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers 71 A SUPERB three-point play by Alyssa Velles with under two minutes remaining effectively clinched Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers a dramatic victory over Catalyst Fr. Mathews in their 2025/26 Women’s Super League curtain raiser in Cork on Saturday night.

Down by seven points late in the third quarter, Peter O’Sullivan’s side fought their way back in a nail-biting fourth period, the two sides deadlocked at 64 points apiece with just over three minutes left on the clock.

A Laila Blair three-pointer had Fr. Mathews in front by the narrowest of margins, but Velles’ superb ‘and one’ wrestled the lead back for Portlaoise, who served up some great defence to hold out to the final buzzer.

Blair did prove a real handful for the Laois outfit with a haul of 32 points, but Panthers, with four players in double figures, had enough fire power to prevail, new signing Christiana Ojide Boiko emerging their top scorer on 19, with Americans, Jessica Fressle and Velles combining for 35 and Lynn Tunnah weighing in with a further 12.

Both Fressle and Boiko were immense under the boards, amassing a combined 26 rebounds to help see Panthers weather a strong opening night test.

“That was a brilliant win away from home in our first game of the season,” Portlaoise boss, O’Sullivan told the *****Laois Nationalist*****.

“It was a savage last quarter and I’m extremely proud of the way the girls dug it out at the end.

“Alyssa got that three-point play to win the game, but there was still about a minute-and-a-half to go at that stage, and so we had to dig deep in defence to grind out that win,” he said.

It was Fressle who opened the scoring in this contest with a deuce just 20 seconds in before the hosts hit back to overtake by four as Blair struck from both sides of the arc.

But Panthers regained their poise, putting together an 11-point run that featured fine finishing in the paint by Boiko, along with buckets for Tunnah, Fressle and a sublime treble from Velles.

Yet, just as the visitors appeared to be garnering some early momentum, Fr. Mathews reduced their arrears to the minimum as Grainne Dwyer landed points from the floor and Ciara McCarthy punished from the free-throw line.

And, while Velles did get the visitors going again when she drained another three, Dwyer got in again for the Cork side to leave them just three points adrift (18-15) by the close of the first quarter.

The second proved even tighter, the two sides adding just a further 13 points to their respective tallies in that period, as Velles and Sarah Fleming both struck from downtown for the visitors.

Leading 31-28 at the half-time recess, Portlaoise pushed their lead out to five thanks to another bucket from Fressle early in the third.

But Fr. Mathews’ defence dug in and kept their opponents scoreless for almost four minutes, during which they themselves put up eight points, Blair accounting for all but one of those scores to see her side move five clear.

Fressle eventually got the scoreboard ticking again for Panthers, but they were forced to work hard to prevent their hosts from pulling clear again, Velles putting three straight free throws through the string at the close of the third quarter to leave just four between the sides (53-49).

A three from Tunnah helped see Portlaoise back in front early in the final period, setting the stage for an thrilling finish to this game that would see the lead swap hands on six more occasions.

Blair picked up her fourth three-pointer of the night to nudge her team back in front, but with 1.43 left on the clock, Velles got in for a bucket, drawing the foul that allowed her go to the line for the additional point, in what would prove the game-winning move.

While delighted with the victory, O’Sullivan and his players will be quickly turning their attention to the challenge of last season’s Super League runners-up, Utility Trust St. Paul’s who pay a visit to St. Mary’s Hall next Sunday afternoon.

“It would have been tough to come away with a loss, so it’s a brilliant start to the season, but we’ve another tough game against Killarney at home now,” stressed O’Sullivan.

“They had a good win away to Waterford Wildcats so that’s going to be a tough first home game,” he added.

CATALYST FR. MATHEWS: Danielle O’Riordan, Amy Murphy, Abby Murphy, Grainne Dwyer, Arianna Price, Ciara McCarthy, Laila Blair, Holly O’Brien, Lexie Givens.

Top Scorers: Laila Blair (32), Grainne Dwyer (14), Lexie Givens (11) MIDLANDS PARK PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Holli Dunne, Megan Dunne, Ciara Byrne, Lynn Tunnah, Jasmine Burke, Jessica Fressle, Christiana Ojide Boiko, Sarah Fleming, Alyssa Velles.

Top Scorers: Christiana Ojide Boiko (19), Alyssa Velles (18), Jessica Fressle (17), Lynn Tunnah (12).