Latvia 85-53 Ireland
A youthful Ireland fell to an 85-53 loss against Latvia in their FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 qualifier in Riga on Thursday.
Hazel Finn, 21, finished as joint-top scorer for Ireland on her debut with 13 points, while head coach James Weldon also handed first caps to 19-year-old Caitlin Gloeckner and 17-year-old Aisling Moran.
Ireland had an impressive opening quarter. Kate Hickey got off the mark with two minutes gone, Finn got her name on the scoresheet with a pull-up jump and after a corner three from Alexandra Mulligan, it was 17-12 with less than three to go.
Not long afterwards Grace Prenter’s hook shot brought it to within four, 20-16. A pair of Sarah Hickey free throws in the final seconds saw Ireland 23-18 behind by the end of the first.
Ireland got within two, 23-21, thanks to another from the three-point line by Mulligan in the opening stages of the second quarter.
Latvia, who are ranked 28th in the FIBA world rankings, then started to really get on top.
Kitija Laksa was potent. She had 21 points by half-time, converting her fourth from the three-point line in the last minute of the quarter, while a pair of Aneta Steinberga free throws made it 51-31.
Kate Hickey was leading the Irish offence at that stage, with nine at the midpoint, and would finish with 13 in a fine performance.
Finn made a bright start to the third quarter, a three-point fadeaway jump shot either side of a pair of layups from the FloMAX Liffey Celtics player and Ireland were 58-38 behind with a little over three minutes gone.
A long-range two and a layup from Hickey saw Ireland 64-42 behind with two and a half minutes to go. Latvia edged further ahead, a three from Steinberga made it 72-44. A Hickey free throw finished off the scoring in the quarter, Latvia 72-45 to the good.
Ireland’s tenacity didn’t fade, a pair of Aine O’Connor jump shots, either side of Steinberga’s three, followed by two free throws from the Irish captain and Ireland were 81-53 behind with less than three to go. Latvia would extend the gap slightly at the finish.
Weldon said afterwards: "It was a very young team, an inexperienced team. I thought we fought really hard.
"I think that some of the young girls can be really, really proud of how hard they played today. We look forward to try to build on today’s performance."
Ireland face Israel on Sunday on Sunday at 12.15pm Irish-time. The Group E game will once again take place at a neutral venue, the Rimi Olympic Village in Riga.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
