Ireland's women's 3x3 team reached the quarter-finals of their FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series in Amsterdam, losing out to hosts and eventual champions Netherlands 21-7 in the last eight on Sunday.
The team featuring Hazel Finn, Maura Fitzpatrick, Abigail Rafferty and Sarah Hickey, finished second in Group C, as Ireland secured a quarter-final place for the first time in FIBA 3x3 Women's Series.
They began the tournament with an impressive 15-7 win over Belgium on Saturday, led by Fitzpatrick’s five points and five rebounds. They were narrowly defeated 15-13 by Beijing, who came into the competition ranked fourth. Ireland stayed close throughout the match, as Rafferty dominated the paint with nine rebounds, but the Chinese team narrowly defeated Ireland 15-13.
The Netherlands awaited Ireland in the quarter-finals, the Dutch claimed a bronze medal in Orléans in the previous FIBA 3x3 Women's Series event and were the topped ranked side in the competition as the defending champions. Ireland played solid defence at the start of their contest and added to this with points from Fitzpatrick and Hickey. The Dutch pulled clear thanks to a nine point contribution from Lutje Schipholt, to secure a 21-7 victory.
Ireland had come into the Amsterdam tournament as the seventh-ranked team, qualifying for the group stage automatically, courtesy of their performances the FIBA 3x3 Women's Series in Orléans, France earlier in the week, where they picked up two wins in their qualifying games to make the group stage.
Ireland began with a commanding 20-10 win against Slovakia in Orléans, followed by a 15-14 win against Prague. Hazel Finn starred for Ireland, scoring 15 points over the two games, earning Ireland a place in Pool C of the main draw, alongside heavyweights Spain and Italy.
Sarah Hickey put up four points and two rebounds against Spain, but the third-ranked team pulled away from Ireland to win 16-12. Ireland led number 12 ranked Italy 16-11 with one minute on the clock in their final group game, only for the Italians to turn the screw and escape with a 17-16 victory, leading Ireland to narrowly miss out on the quarter-finals of the event in France.
Reflecting on an impressive week, Ireland 3x3 women's head coach, Niamh Dwyer, said: "It's been amazing week and I could not be prouder of the girls. They bounced back from the disappointment of losing in the final of our FIBA Europe Cup qualifiers, to pick up our first ever wins in the FIBA 3x3 Women's Series, in Orléans. Then to follow up with a win over Belgium on Saturday in Amersterdam to help us secure historic quarter-final, is testament to how far we've come. We came up against the defending champions and eventual winners in their own back yard and the girls did brilliantly against the Netherlands."
Ireland will return to FIBA 3x3 Women's Series action on July 1st and 2nd, when they travel to Bucharest, Romania.
Dwyer added: "These last few weeks will give us great confidence and I'm looking forward to building on that next month when we go to Bucharest. We've set our standards now and we'll be targeting wins and the knockout stages."
