University of Galway Mystics suffered an 86–70 defeat to Limerick Celtics in the Domino’s Women’s Division One league in Limerick on Saturday evening. Despite outscoring Celtics in two of the four quarters, a decisive third-quarter run gave the hosts the edge.
The opening quarter was closely fought, with the lead changing hands several times. However, a late 14-2 run by Celtics saw them finish ahead at 29-19.
Mystics responded well in the second quarter, outscoring Celtics 19-12 and leaving the hosts with a narrow 41–38 lead at halftime.
Celtics made a decisive break halfway through the third quarter, taking advantage of increased defensive pressure with a 20-4 run, and finished the quarter with a commanding 71-53 lead.
Mystics fought back in the fourth quarter, winning it 17-15, with nine of those points coming from Bella Quinn. However, the gap proved too large to close, and Celtics took the win.
The top scorers for Mystics were Kara McCleane with 15 points, followed by Demetra Yennari with 14, while Emma Glavin and Karolina Gierszal both scored 13 points. Gierszal’s contribution was a welcome boost following her recent return from a lengthy injury lay-off. Laura Buckley was Celtics' top scorer with 18 points.
After two weeks on the road, University of Galway Mystics return home to play Cleveland Rockets on Saturday, January 31st at 4 pm in the Kingfisher.
