Liffey Celtics edge Waterford in Women’s Super League thriller
Sorcha Tiernan’s late three pointer helped FloMAX Liffey Celtics to a dramatic win over Waterford Wildcats. Photo: Sean Brilly
Sorcha Tiernan hit a clutch three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining to help clinch the most dramatic of wins for FloMAX Liffey Celtics when they welcomed SETU Waterford Wildcats to Leixlip on Saturday evening.
It what was one of the most exciting showdowns in this season’s Domino’s Women’s Super League so far, Celtics prevailed against a dogged Wildcats team that had beaten them by 15 points in Mercy College back in October.
Waterford had looked poised to inflict more heartache on their hosts by denying them a fifth-straight win in this campaign when they locked horns again at the weekend, battling back from 14 points down late in the second quarter to lead by one with less than a minute remaining.
But, not for the first time this season, Celtics demonstrated tremendous tenacity down the stretch, Tiernan delivering a monster triple before Áine O’Connor added two from the free-throw line to copper-fasten a win that saw Celtics leapfrog Waterford into sixth place in the table.
Both sides ended the game with four players in double figures, Sarah Hickey carding a game-high 25 points for the visitors, while Tiarra Brown added a further 19.
Destinee Bursch’s impact for the hosts was again undeniable as she notched up 22 points, seven assists and five rebounds, with Brooke Kane and Katie Williamson each weighing in with a further 20 on the scoreboard and O’Connor finishing on a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds.
With his players gearing up for a National Cup final against Killester next Sunday, Liffey Celtics head coach, Hillary Netsiyanwa was delighted to see his side extend their winning run in the league, telling The Kildare Nationalist “This was a massive win for us.
“I said to the girls there was no looking ahead to next week until we passed the massive hurdle that Wildcats are. Now we’re a game ahead of them and the goal for us is to be in the top four.
“Wildcats were firing on all cylinders. We were fortunate enough that their top shooter Alyssa [Frescas] got into foul trouble, and we took advantage of it when she was off the court, but they still blew up a lot of the stuff that we were trying to do as well.
“But you can see that togetherness with the girls, fighting through, especially in a game like that” he said.
Brooke Kane was on fire for Celtics in the opening quarter, hitting 15 points and opening their account with a sublime strike from beyond the arc, followed by three-point play that helped propel her side into an 11-5 lead.
But Waterford were never going to lose sight of their hosts and, aided by buckets from Alyssa Frescas and a nice treble from Sanija Brikmane, they restored parity at 12 points apiece.
The two sides would find themselves deadlocked three more times in that opening stanza before Celtics claimed the last five points through an ‘and one’ and perimeter jump shot by Bursch to end that period in front 29-24.
The homeside opened the second quarter with a layup from O’Connor and steadily enlarged the deficit to ten as both Bursch and Kate O’Flaherty drained buckets from off the three-point line.
Wildcats did respond with six unanswered points courtesy of Sarah Hickey and Frescas, but Celtics shut them out for the next three minutes, during which they, themselves, put up a further ten, as Kane and Sorcha Tiernan delivered from downtown while O’Connor and Williamson inflicted more damage from the key.
The visitors did finish the half on the front foot as Sarah Hickey hit a three-point play before registering a put-back just ahead of the buzzer to reduce the gap to nine (49-40).
While the Ireland senior international did draw first blood for Waterford in the third, the Kildare side hit back with buckets from Williamson, O’Connor and Bursch to enlarge the deficit to 12.
But Waterford kept themselves very much in the reckoning and reduced their arrears to four with as many minutes remaining in that penultimate period, Kate Hickey picking up four points in less than a minute before Brikmane drained two free throws and a triple.
Bursch and O’Connor, however, again struck in the paint before Williamson put the ball through the string from both sides of the arc help see the Liffey take a 70-62 advantage into the fourth.
Still, Waterford kept on coming, igniting that closing period with a three from Frescas to spark another surge that saw them level the game at 77 points apiece with just over five minutes remaining.
That set the stage for a nailbiting close to this battle that would see the lead swap hands four more times, before Tiernan delivered the decisive blow when she drained a massive three, to which O’Connor added a brace from the free-throw line to clinch this one for the Leixlip side.
Brooke Kane, Crea Langan, Kate O’Flaherty, Sarah Brady, Aoibhinn Doyle, Katie Williamson, Destinee Bursch, Carley Njonguo, Clara Boyce, Sorcha Tiernan, Erin Boyce, Áine O’Connor.
Destinee Bursch (22), Brooke Kane (20), Katie Williamson (20), Áine O’Connor (16).
Isabelle Daniels, Kate Hickey, Orla Dullaghan, Helena Rohan, Sarah Hickey, Aoife Brett, Ardiana Shallci, Sanija Brikmane, Alyssa Frescas, Melissa Stone, Tiarra Brown.
Sarah Hickey (25), Tiarra Brown (19), Alyssa Frescas (15), Sanija Brikmane (13).
