Ireland squad finalised for FIBA U20 Women's European Championships

Ireland U20 Women’s head coach Karl Kilbride has named his final 12-person squad for the FIBA European Championships, which take place in Craiova, Romania between July 28^th and August 6^th.

Kilbride has selected an experienced squad, with five players returning from the FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship roster who competed in the ‘A’ division a year ago. Ella O’Donnell (Quinnipiac University), Hazel Finn (University of Galway Mystics), Sarah Hickey (Waterford Wildcats), Kara McCleane (University of Galway Mystics) and Sinéad Keane (Trinity Meteors) will relish another chance to compete at the top level of European basketball.

Two debutantes will make the trip to Romania, Dublin Lions duo Katie Flanagan and Emily Smyth. Both enjoyed successful domestic campaigns in 2022/23, helping their team to an InsureMyHouse.ie Women’s Division One National Cup in the process. Smyth averaged 7.7 points per game in the MissQuote.ie Division One, shooting 64% from the line. Flanagan helped herself to 5.7ppg with a 70% success rate with her free-throws.

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Kilkenny’s Lucy Coogan (Caldwell University), Maria Kealy (Ulster University Tigers) and DCU Mercy’s Micaiah Fubara bridge the gap from the Ireland U18 setup. Coogan put in an impressive showing at the 2022 FIBA U18 Women’s European Championship, finishing as Ireland’s second leading scorer (14.4ppg) behind Sarah Hickey (18.4ppg). She also chipped in with a valuable 8 rebounds and 2 assists per game during the tournament. Kealy proved an effective facilitator, contributing 7.4 assists per game to go with 5.4 rebounds and a team high 36-minutes per game.  

Tullamore BC pair Ellie and Emma Glavin (University of Galway Mystics) are the final duo on the plane. Both formed part of the University of Galway Mystics InsureMyHouse.ie U20 Women’s National Cup winning side. They also featured prominently during their MissQuote.ie Women’s Super League season. Emma Glavin averaged 28-minutes per game and 7.4 points per game, while sister Ellie had 3.7 points per game on just under 19-minutes per game at the top table of Irish women’s basketball.

Ireland will compete in the FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship  ‘B’ Division in 2023 and have been drawn in Group B alongside Romania, Greece and Georgia.

Speaking after announcing his squad, head coach Karl Kilbride said: 

"We've been really lucky to see the group over 3 trials and to have gotten to work with them over 5 full weekend training camps. We've gotten to play friendlies against East Texas Baptist University, along with two really helpful games against the Tommy and the U18W team. Getting down to 12, from the group that we had, is one of the toughest processes we've ever had to go through. There's so much ability and experience in the extended group, it meant there was always going to be some serious talent who would be missing out. 

We couldn't possibly be more excited to be working with and going away with the 12 girls we have. We're really fortunate to have the depth of experience we've got in the team - Playing at the highest levels in our National Leagues, in The States and also having played at previous European Championships. 

We have an intense and busy summer ahead, with tough stops in Czech Republic and Croatia, before heading to Romania for the European Championships at the end of July. With the effort and commitment that the girls have shown so far continuing, we're hoping for a really successful few months in front of us."

Ireland U20 Women’s Squad:

Ella O’Donnell (Quinnipiac University), Ellie Glavin (University of Galway Mystics), Emily Smyth (Dublin Lions), Emma Glavin (University of Galway Mystics), Hazel Finn (University of Galway Mystics), Kara McCleane (University of Galway Mystics), Katie Flanagan (Dublin Lions), Lucy Coogan (Caldwell University), Maria Kealy (Ulster University Tigers), Micaiah Fubara (DCU Mercy), Sarah Hickey (Waterford Wildcats), Sinéad Keane (Trinity Meteors).