Ireland lost 90-61 to Israel in their FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 qualifier in Riga on Sunday. Bridget Herlihy scored a game-high 27 points for Ireland, along with nine rebounds and five assists in an eye-catching performance. Sarah Hickey was among those to shine too, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
It was a tight affair in the opening minutes of the contest, a pair of Sarah Hickey free throws got Ireland up and running. Áine O’Connor’s layup had Ireland level at 4-4 three minutes in. Two Daniel Raber free throws put Israel 15-9 ahead, but Ireland reeled their opponents back in with a Herlihy free throw and a pull up jump shot three from the left by Hazel Finn, to make it 15-13 with a little over a minute to go.
Israel extended their lead to finish off the quarter, thanks to a five-point run by Jennie Simms, putting them 20-13 in front.
Herlihy led Ireland’s offense in the first half, hitting 13 points, a three pointer from her had Ireland trailing 26-19 less than two minutes into the second quarter. By the midpoint the deficit was nine, Grace Prenter converting from the three-point line to make it 33-24. Four points from Sarah Hickey and another three from Prenter and it was 41-31 to Israel with less than two minutes to go. Israel would extend that lead to 46-21 by half-time, again Simms central to it with four more points to bring her tally to 17.
Herlihy continued to impress in the third quarter, starting off with three from the three-point line along with a driving layup to keep Ireland in contention, at 60-45 with less than three minutes to go in the third. She landed her fourth three of the quarter - and saved the best for last - with a buzzer-beating basket, following an Abigail Rafferty steal and fastbreak, Ireland trailed 63-52, outscoring their opponents 21-17 in the quarter.
Israel began the fourth with a 10-point run, but it was snapped by a pair of Sarah Hickey free throws and a pull-up jump shot three from Kate Hickey, Israel were 73-57 ahead midway through the quarter. Israel pulled away after that, winning 90-61. Ireland’s final points came from a hook shot by Amy Dooley and two free throws in the closing seconds from 17-year-old Aisling Moran – her first ever senior international points in her second appearance.
Head coach James Weldon said: “I am very, very proud of the performance. It got away a bit in the end there, it was a 10, 11-point game going into the fourth quarter, I thought we had a great third quarter and we had it back to 10 a number of times there early in the fourth quarter. It was tough again for us to maintain that pace and intensity, it’s a big thing for us to get up to that level. I thought it was a very physical game, our young players did really well and all these young players are going to be the better for these types of experiences. I am very proud of how the group stuck together in an intense week, it’s a long time away from home, eight days, a lot of amateur players, so I thought they were fantastic. Israel kept most of their starters on, most of them played 36, 37 or 38 minutes in the game - that just reflects how well our girls played, they had to keep their main players on the court all the time.”
Ireland complete their Group E campaign with an away game with France on February 6th, followed by a home fixture against Latvia in Dublin on February 9th.
Quarter Scores:
Q1: 13-20, Q2: 18-26, Q3: 21-17, Q4: 9-27
Game Scores:
Q1: 13-20, Q2: 31-46, Q3: 52-63, Q4: 61-90
Ireland:
Amy Dooley (2), Hazel Finn (6), Caitlin Gloeckner (0), Bridget Herlihy (27), Kate Hickey (3), Sarah Hickey (13), Áine O’Connor (2), Aisling Moran (2), Alexandra Mulligan (0), Grace Prenter (6), Abigail Rafferty (0).
Israel:
Alyssa Baron (11), Shir Scoti Tirosh (DNP), Eden Rotberg (17), Dorian Dhan Sujic (4), Gili Eisner (0), Daniel Karsh (7), Edel Zipel (5), Dor Saar (0), Tamar Aya Bar Gal (DNP), Daniel Raber (16), Tslil Vaturi (9), Jennie Simms (21).
FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers Group E Results
Thursday 7th November
Latvia 85-53 Ireland
Sunday 10th November
Ireland 61-90 Israel
FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers Group E Fixtures
Thursday 6th February 2025
France v Ireland (Live on TG4)
Sunday 9th February 2025
Ireland v Latvia (Live on TG4)
