The pairings for the Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One semi-finals in the playoffs have been set following a busy month of action.
Recently crowned Senior Women’s National Cup champions, Portlaoise Panthers have secured top spot and will face an Oblate Dynamos side that beat them to start the month, 61 – 53 in Dublin.
Portlaoise bounced back from that defeat to win against UL and NUIG Mystics before finishing the regular season with a convincing road win against IT Carlow, 47 – 66.
Their opponents Dynamos meanwhile experienced a virtual mirror opposite month to that of Panthers. After besting the Portlaoise ladies, Dynamos would drop three straight, falling to Tom McCarthy’s St Mary’s, NUIG Mystics and Tralee Imperials.
While all were by slim margins, the results saw them slip to fourth in the final standings despite a win last weekend against UL Huskies.
Meanwhile, the other semi-final pits Kerry rivals Tralee Imperials and Tom McCarthy’s St Mary’s against one another.
It will be interesting to see how St Mary’s hectic month, which saw them play seven games in 28 days, affects their performance. They can certainly claim a hot hand, having enjoyed a five game win streak in that period but their results also showed some signs of fatigue towards the end.
Tralee on the other hand played just twice since January ended, recording a loss to St Mary’s themselves 54 – 63 in Castleisland before finishing up the regular season with a win against Oblate Dynamos 63 – 71 in Dublin.
The much anticipated Kerry derby semi-final will therefore follow a familiar storyline. Should St Mary’s win they will the team in rhythm while if Tralee advance, they will be seen to be better rested. Only time will tell.
For the three teams that missed the playoffs, NUIG Mystics, IT Carlow and UL Huskies, it will be a long summer of examining the pros and cons from the season past.
NUIG Mystics, semi-finalists a year ago, can count themselves unfortunate, missing out this time around by just two points. An impressive February saw them make a strong charge, winning four of five. However a loss to Portlaoise Panthers 61 – 54 on February 22nd ultimately cost them.
For IT Carlow, it has been an encouraging first year in the league that saw them register early wins against Mystics and UL Huskies. They reminded all of the potential within Carlow again this month by beating a St Mary’s team that had been on a five game win streak, 47 – 40 before coming up just short against Tralee last weekend.
WD1 player of the month: Hannah Coen of Mystics
WD1 coach of the month: Mike Murray of Mystics