Liffey Celtics’ five-game winning run stopped cold by UCC Glanmire
Brooke Kane sunk 17 points at th Leixlip Amenities Centre on Saturday night.
UCC Glanmire ensured FloMAX Liffey Celtics’ National Cup hangover continued after they ended their five-game winning streak in Domino’s Women’s Super League when they paid a visit to Leixlip Amenities Centre on Saturday night.
Less than a week after they had lost out to Killester in the WSL National Cup final in Tallaght, Celtics dropped back into a share of sixth place in the league table, as Glanmire went clear in third, just three points behind joint leaders, Killester and St. Paul’s.
While Liffey did emerged from Saturday night’s game with four players in double figures, including Katie Williamson on an impressive 21 points and nine rebounds, they struggled to cope with Glanmire’s big hitters.
Indeed, Viane Cumber and Jewel Watkins ran the show for the Cork side, as they amassed a huge 61 points and 16 rebounds between them, the former finishing up on 75 percent off the three-point line from where she landed six of her eight attempts.
Claire O’Sullivan also made her presence felt for the visitors with 13 points and seven defensive boards on her way to a total of eight rebounds, as the visitors won all four quarters.
The two sides found themselves deadlocked on three occasions in the opening quarter before a six-point run, that included buckets from Cumber, Watkins and Miriam Loughrey helped give them the edge at 29-22 by the close of the first period.
Brooke Kane’s three triples in that opening stanza, along with another from Sorcha Tiernan, went a long way to keeping Celtics in touch, with further scores from Williamson and Destinee Bursch reducing the deficit to just three early in the second quarter.
Celtics remained very much on the heels of their opponents, who nevertheless, accounted for the last five points of the half, compliments of Cumber and Watkins, who carded an ‘and one’ to help see her side take a 51-42 lead into the break.
It continued to prove tit-for-tat throughout the third, Tiernan and Áine O’Connor striking from outside the arc for Celtics, while Watkins and Cumber did likewise for Glanmire, the latter draining all three of her attempts from distance in that period as the visitors extended their advantage slightly to 11 points (72-51) heading into the fourth.
Liffey struggled to eat into that lead when they returned to the floor, and any hope of a recovery was stuffed out in the closing four minutes as Glanmire strung together a late 10-point run that featured a three-point play by Watkins and a big treble from Lucy Walsh with just 27 seconds remaining on the clock.
It was a disappointing reversal for Hillary Netsiyanwa’s side, who were looking to bounce back quickly in the wake of their National Cup title game defeat the previous week.
They will be hoping to get motoring again next Saturday evening when they make the trip out to a Trinity Meteors side who will, no doubt, be chomping at the bit to put one over their Kildare rivals after having lost out to them in the last four of the National Cup at the start of month.
Brooke Kane, Katie Williamson, Destinee Bursch, Clara Boyce, Sorcha Tiernan, Áine O’Connor.
Katie Williamson (21), Brooke Kane (17), Sorcha Tiernan (12), Áine O’Connor (10).
Aine McKenna, Jessica O’Shea, Claire O’Sullivan, Annaliese Murphy, Mia Furlong, Jewel Watkins, Miriam Loughrey, Lucy Walsh, Emer Dunne, Faye McDonnell, Amy Dooley, Viane Cumber.
Viane Cumber (32), Jewel Watkins (29), Claire O’Sullivan (13).
