Preview: Paudie O'Connor National Cup Final Four

Three of the top four in the Women’s Super League standings will take the court on Saturday afternoon in Neptune Stadium, where the finalists for the 2024/25 Paudie O’Connor National Cup will be decided.

Utility Trust St Pauls are the odd one out of FloMAX Liffey Celtics, SETU Waterford Wildcats and Killester, but they will have their own intentions of upsetting the odds and marching onto the National Basketball Arena a week on Sunday.   

“Saturday’s game is as tough as it comes,” began FloMAX Liffey Celtics head coach Karl Kilbride when asked about the challenge of taking on SETU Waterford Wildcats at 12:00 on basketballireland.tv. 

“Wildcats have been the most consistent team in the league all year. They’ve also won a bunch of really close games along the way, which will really stand to them in a one off cup game.”

“They’re incredibly dangerous in transition and rebounding the ball offensively. We know that if we want to win the game, those are the two battles we need to win. However, we knew that going into the league game we played with them and unfortunately, we didn’t do a good enough job on the day in limiting those areas. So it’s one thing knowing what we need to do, and another going out and actually executing. 

The aforementioned game ended 75-72 in favour of Waterford, but they needed free-throws from Sarah Hickey and Ashia McCalla to see it out following a late Ciara Bracken jumper.

Bracken misses out through injury this weekend, however with the potential for six Irish senior internationals to be on the court simultaneously, this game promises to be of the highest quality on both ends of the floor.

“It’ll be down to the team that executes best on the day,” added SETU Waterford Wildcats head coach Jillian Hayes, who is aiming to lead her team to their first Paudie O’Connor National Cup trophy in 25 years – with daughters Sarah and Kate (Hickey) at the heart of this generation.

“We both have great Americans and Irish players that can lead a team to a win. This is where everyone wants to be. One win and it’s on to the finals and both teams will want that so badly,” added Hayes, who has seen her team race to an 8-2 record in the Women’s Super League, though they did drop their most recent game on the road against Catalyst Fr. Mathews. 

Later that evening it’ll be the turn of Utility Trust St. Pauls and Killester to turn and stamp their place at finals weekend at the National Basketball Arena.

The Killarney side are enjoying their maiden run in this competition having been promoted to the Women’s Super League this season. James Fleming’s charges have also already caused a cup upset in the quarter-finals, taking down a fancied Trinity Meteors team 71-65 on the road in Dublin. 

“We are not going up to make up the numbers,” said the St. Pauls head coach. “Really looking forward to the challenge of being huge underdogs against Killester. They are threats from every position and are the current league champions for a reason. We have a few injuries worries so hopefully they will clear up. Mimi Clarke and Samantha Haiby caused us fierce problems in the league and the addition of Hannah Thornton gives them a tall presence inside.”

The potential matchup between Thornton and Senegal international Mathilde Diop is an intriguing one, but the unknown quantity of Fleming’s most recent signing Alexandra Wittinger might be the ace in his pack. The 6’1” forward played in Australia, Finland and Germany before arriving in Ireland and will need to have taken another step forward from her 19 point outing against The Address UCC Glanmire last weekend if she’s to be a difference maker here. 

For his part, experience Killester head coach Mark Grennell is full of admiration for what his counterpart is doing in Killarney. “They are doing great things in Killarney and it's great to see Women’s Super League basketball back in that part of Ireland,” said Grennell ahead of the contest.

“We are looking forward to the weekend as a team. It’s a nice change of pace from the league. All the teams under one roof and the games are high stakes. We know Utility Trust St Paul's will pose a stiff challenge and we will have to play our best basketball so far this season to get past them.”

Samatha Haiby has been an outstanding addition for Grennell, averaging almost a double-double, while Irish U20 international Leilani Turner has made significant strides at the guard position this year. The experience of Irish international Mimi Clarke has been crucial at different stages since the departure of Claire Melia to Spain, while Hannah Thornton has hit the ground running quickly since she was cleared to play for the club.

The only concern for coach Grennell going into the game this weekend is that of shooter Ieva Bagdanaviciene – who missed their last Women’s Super League win over Trinity Meteors. Bagdanaviciene is shooting 32.4% from beyond the arc this year and has been clutch when called upon in both the Paudie O’Connor Cup final two years ago and the Women’s Super League playoff against FloMAX Liffey Celtics last season.

“We were very lucky to get a win in the league game and they've brought in more players since then which will make the challenge even greater,” added Grennell. “We will focus on our performance and hopefully that will be enough to get us a win.”