BASKETBALL
Vanderwal and Fahy star as UL show no mercy in Cup cakewalk
UL BC 64
DCU MERCY 27
Daire Walsh
WOMEN’S SUPERLEAGUE NATIONAL CUP FINAL
MICHELLE FAHY and Rachel Vanderwal were the stars of the show at the National Basketball Arena last night, as their combined tally of 31 points eased a dominant UL to the title.
The holders were certainly well-prepared for this decider, but they came up against a UL side who hadn’t tasted defeat in an incredible 27 games, and who never looked like coming off second best in the Tallaght venue.
After a number of near misses at the basket from DCU early on, Kerry Ladies football star Louise Galvin put UL into the ascendancy with a two-pointer, before Canadian native Vanderwal secured one point from a brace of free shots at the hoop.
DCU finally opened their account four minutes in through Suzanne Maguire, but UL were really hurting their Metropolitan rivals on the break, as three more points from Vanderwal, alongside two
points from Loretta Maher gave them a six-point advantage.
DCU finished the opening quarter in good spirits, though, with a spectacular three-pointer from Lindsay Peat reducing the margin to 10-7.
SUPERIORITY
UL then enhanced their early superiority with a flurry of scores before half-time, including a three-pointer from Miriam Liston, to give them a 23-13 mid-way advantage.
As the game entered the third period, UL continued to impress, and even though Shauna O’Connor secured a terrific three-pointer from an extremely tight angle for DCU, a nine-point haul from Vanderwal, as well as four each from Rachel Clancy and Fahy, gave James Weldon’s charges a seemingly insurmountable 40-18 cushion at the end of the third-quarter.
To their credit, Mercy did continue to battle admirably as the game entered into the final 10 minutes, but indiscpline counted them as UL registered nine points from free shots at the basket.
Forward Aoife McDermott was also prominenT in the final quarter, bagging seven points for herself, as UL had more than enough to secure the silverware.
SCORERS – UL: M Fahy 16, R Vanderwal 15, R Clancy 10, A McDermott 9, R Clancy 6, M Liston, L Maher 3 each, A Staunton 2. DCU Mercy: L Peat 10, S Woods, S Maguire 6 each, S O’Connor 3, H Kenny 2.
UL: L Galvin, R Clancy, M O’Leary, M Liston, C Grant, M Fahy, R Vanderwal, A Staunton, F Lynch, L Maher, A McDermott.
DCU MERCY: C Foley, S Woods, H Kenny, R O’Keeffe, S McGrath, S O’Connor, L Peat, L Palmer, S Maguire, C Newton, E Dyer, A McLoughlin, M Wieliczko.