Domino’s Women’s Super League Week Two Preview

There was drama aplenty across the opening weekend of the Domino’s Women’s Super League with several games going to the wire. Wins for Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers, Trinity Meteors and Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell made the headlines in week one, so now we look forward to week two.

New faces, new teams and the same high-intensity play as always was on display as the Domino’s Women’s Super League got underway, now let’s take a glimpse at what's in store for week two.

McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles v Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell, Saturday 3pm

McEvoy's Cavan Eagles were the new team on the block this season after winning division one last season. They kicked off their season away to Trinity Meteors and unfortunately did not turn out as the Eagles had hoped. Despite strong showings from Soleil Barnes, who had 15 points and 6 rebounds, and Mazatkan Harris, who had 12 points and 8 rebounds, Trinity just had too much for Cavan in the end in a 65-61 defeat.

In the other corner, Brunell had a fantastic start to their Domino's Women's Super League campaign with an 80-75 victory over UCC Glanmire. Former Clemson guard Maddie Cluse made a statement in her debut by dropping 24 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. She was helped by an outstanding performance from Brailyn Jarrell Joseph who had a game-high 26 points to go with her nine boards and a game-high efficiency of 26.

Irish captain Edel Thornton will hoping to lead Brunell to a 2-0 start in Cavan following her return from injury. However, the ladies from Cavan will be looking to spoil the party and make their mark on the Super League and bounce back from that tough loss in Trinity. 

Catalyst Fr. Mathews v Trinity Meteors, Saturday, 5pm

Speaking of Trinity, they will make the journey across the M7 and M8 to Cork on Saturday to face Fr. Mathews, who will be looking to recover from a heart-wrenching 69-71 defeat at home to Portlaoise Panthers.

Trinity Meteors came into the new season on the back of the loss of last season's leading scorer and their head coach, causing them to be an unknown as the season tipped-off. But the addition of Irish player Hazel Finn has proved to be a quick fix, as she scored a team-high 15, got 4 assists and 4 rebounds in a strong win on opening weekend.

Meanwhile, Laila Blair put on one of the performances of the weekend as she dropped 32 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, being the driving force behind a Fr. Mathews side who were throwing haymakers back and forth with Portlaoise. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be and ended in a two-point loss. But they will be going into this game full of confidence behind an offence firing on all cylinders.

Catalyst Fr. Mathews will be hoping it will go their way this week and they can get back on track as they hunt for that first win. Meanwhile, Trinity will be hoping the new head coach bounce for Seamus Donnelly continues and they can go 2-0 and lay down a real marker to the rest of the league.

Killester v UCC Glanmire, Saturday, 5pm

Playing Killester is difficult at the best of times, but UCC Glanmire making the trip to Clontarf in a week where the orange and black put a 27-point win up on their biggest rival of the last three years, looks a daunting one. 

It's been over five years since UCC Glanmire started a season 0-2, so the pressure is on Vlane Cumber and Jewel Watkins to score the basketball even more effectively on the road, despite their combined 41 against Brunell last weekend. As usual, Irish international Annaliese Murphy, as well as veteran duo Claire O'Sullivan and Áine McKenna will also have a huge role to play if the Cork side are to leave Dublin with a win.  They had a 4-5 record away from Mardyke Arena a season ago.

Samantha Haiby picked up where she left off last season, notching 31 and looking a class above for Killester on tip-off weekend. Securing her return could be the best move of any team in the off-season should she maintain that level of form. They will have extra motivation this weekend though, UCC Glanmire took both games in this series last season, the only team in the Dominos Women's Super League to do so.

Early season games are about building rhythm, momentum and confidence - who's going to leave the IWA feeling better about the season ahead?

SETU Waterford Wildcats v FloMAX Liffey Celtics, Saturday, 7pm

Our Saturday night viewing takes us to Waterford where the Wildcats welcome a FloMAX Liffey Celtics side who will be raring to put up a big fight as a reply to their heavy loss to Killester at the weekend.

The Wildcats will be hoping for their own bounce back after a defeat to St. Pauls Killarney last weekend in a game where they were hoping to get a bit of revenge for last seasons playoff defeat. Irish international Sarah Hickey did her utmost to bring Waterford a win by dropping 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Wildcats which was further fuelled by a 23 point performance from newly-acquired American Alyssa Durazo. However Killarney were just too strong for the ladies from Waterford.

For Liffey Celtics, this will be a big game early in the tenure of new coach Hillary Netsiyanwa, as he asks for a response following such a tough defeat to - what figures to be - a big rival at the business end of the season. 

Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers v Utility Trust St. Pauls Killarney, Sunday, 3pm

We have a mouth-watering clash on Sunday afternoon as we see two teams who saw strong victories last weekend both looking to remain unbeaten as the Domino’s Super League starts to get into full-swing.

Portlaoise Panthers managed to overcome Fr. Mathews down in Cork last weekend spearheaded by a strong showing from the trio of Jessica Fressle with 17 points, Christiana Ojide with 19 and Alyssa Marie Velles who had 18 of her own points to carry the Panthers just over the line.

Meanwhile Utility Trust St. Paul's, they showed that their win on the road in Waterford in their run to the Dominos Women's Super League final in April was no flash in the pan by repeating the feat in week one. It was definitely the Maisie Burnham show, who tied-for a game-high 23 points along with nine rebounds. Siofra O’Shea was also namechecked after the game by head coach James Fleming for her double-double performance with 10 points and 13 boards.

St. Paul's will be hoping that they can keep the momentum going after a game where they did not lose a single quarter of basketball. But they have their work cut-out against a Portlaoise side that dug in and came out with a gritty victory in Cork, which will no doubt only add to the steel in their armour as they continue on the pursuit of glory this season.