International

Aug 09 2026

Ireland finish 13th at FIBA U18 Women’s Youth EuroBasket

A 77-62 win against Ukraine on the final day earned Ireland a 13^th place position at this year’s FIBA U18 Women’s Youth EuroBasket. Ireland came away with an impressive 5-2 record in the tournament, only losing to the eventual third and fourth place finishers.

Laura Buckley led the scoring for Ireland with 80 points over seven games, with Lucy Walsh (69) and Aoibheann Donnelly (68) following closely behind. Francesca Kyamagero also produced two double-double displays to guide Ireland to one position higher than the previous year.

Ireland were drawn into Group C alongside Lithuania, Estonia, Luxembourg and Austria, with the top two teams progressing to the final eight and the latter three playing classification games. The opening contest against Lithuania ended in defeat, but Ireland hit their form in game two and went three from three in the following group phase games.

Ireland U18 WNT head coach Ian Lynch speaking to his players

Ireland faced Estonia in game two, where Laura Buckley hit a game-high 26 points to help her side win 88-55. A third quarter onslaught from Ireland on gameday three gave them a 14-point victory over Luxembourg and a final one-point win against Austria meant that Ireland finished with a 3-1 record in the group. Unfortunately, Ireland did not progress to the quarter-finals with Austria and Lithuania finishing on the same points.

Francesca Kyamagero bagged a double-double against a strong Danish team in the first classification game, but it wasn’t enough as Denmark came away 68-61 winners. In their penultimate contest, Ireland put on a stellar performance to beat Switzerland by 32 points. Lucy Walsh stepped up for Ireland in this game to score 12 points and to set up a final contest with Ukraine.

Ukraine awaited Ireland in the 13-14 classification game, having beaten Luxembourg in the round prior. An excellent all-round performance led Ireland to a 15-point win to earn 13^th place in Tulcea.