Katie Williamson: “We’ve got to leave it all out there on the court”

Katie Williamson believes she and her FloMAX Liffey Celtics team mates are heading into the Women’s Super League National Cup final at just the right time. The Leixlip side goes up against defending Super League champions Killester in the National Basketball Arena on Sunday, looking to make it back-to-back National Cup titles having turned their season around following a dismal start that saw them lose their opening four games.

Bolstered by the arrival of former Minnesota State University guard, Destinee Bursch, Celtics have turned a corner, winning six of their last seven league games while also surmounting Gurranabraher Brunell and Trinity Meteors en route to a second successive cup decider.

Given the huge change in personnel during the summer, the fact that Celtics are back in the final is a remarkable achievement. While new head coach Hillary Netsiyanwa lost the services of Rachel Huijsdens, Hazel Finn and Katie O’Sullivan, he has done a solid job in rebuilding the squad with the arrival Brooke Kane and Bursch, and the returning Williamson following a five-year stint with Southern Connecticut State University.

They have all played a significant role in helping set Celtics up for showdown with Killester, who, having lost out to the Kildare side in last season’s final, will certainly have the bit between their teeth heading into this weekend. The Dubliners currently share top spot in the league, but come into the final on the back of two straight defeats against Celtics and UCC Glanmire.

While Williamson fully appreciates that tackling a wounded Killester is a very dangerous undertaking, the Liffey Celtics forward believes their recent upturn in form leaves them on a sound footing as they bid to complete a successful National Cup title defence. “I think from the first game of the season we realised we’d a lot to work on,” she admitted. 

“There’s been a lot of trial and error in a lot of things, and it’s just been about coming together, putting our strengths together and then executing on the floor. We’ve found that flow now thankfully, and hopefully it will stay that way and we'll just keep building. We did have to weather the storm, but now I think we’re definitely working really well together as a team and we’re on the up.

“We're a very close-knit group of girls. We really do rely on each other and encourage each other, which is so nice. Sticking together, playing as one, and keeping each other in a really positive mind-set is going to be really important on Sunday. We’ve got to make sure that we’re communicating well together, we’re executing what we need to execute and playing really strong defensively, because playing strong defence leads to good offense.

“We beat Killester there a couple of weeks ago, so that gave us a lot of confidence and encouragement. It showed that we're well capable of being here and being in this position. But we’ve got to leave it all out there on the court. If we want to be the best, we're going to have to perform at our best.”

While delighted to return home to play with her former club, Williamson admits it took her a little time to readjust to life in Women’s Super League. Yet she has really begun to make her presence felt for the Leixlip side over recent weeks, the highly-rated forward averaging 17 points and nine rebounds in her last three games.

“I forgot about the physicality of the game. I didn’t realised just how physical it was going to be coming back” said Williamson. “Playing with a new team, new coach, it's just about finding your bearings, but I’ve had great encouragement from my coach, my assistant coach and my team mates.

“It’s just about having that belief in myself that I am capable of doing what I can do. My team puts me in the right position to score, so it's a team effort at the end of the day, and I'm really lucky."

Certainly Williamson would love nothing more than to keep that good run of form going and play her part in another landmark victory for Celtics, saying: “It's an absolute fantastic honour to be in the final. When you wear the Liffey Celtics jersey, you're representing something bigger than yourself. You're representing the whole community, so we’re really doing it for the whole community, doing it for Liffey Celtics Basketball Club. We’ve got to perform to the best of our ability, do what we need to to get the job done."