Four Cork players named in Ireland FIBA U20 squad ahead of qualifiers in August

Ireland U20 Women’s basketball head coach Karl Kilbride has selected four players from Cork in his extended 19-strong squad ahead of this summer’s FIBA U20 Women’s EuroBasket Division B, which will take place in Miskolc, Hungary from August 2nd-10th.

Brunell have three players in the squad, while another former player Rachel Lynch, who is based in America on scholarship is also named in the squad.

Rebecca Sexton, Issy McSweeney and Ava Walshe have all featured for Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell in the Domino’s Women’s Super League this season, with Walshe playing in all but one league game so far, with an 8.1 ppg average.

There are two players apiece from Cavan Eagles and Dublin club Meteors.

The squad contains three players with senior Irish caps - Grace Prenter, Aisling Moran and Caitlin Gloeckner – who all featured in the recent FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers campaign.

There are four USA-based players chosen - Emma Gribben (Dominican University New York, USA), Izzy Sullivan (University of Nevada), Lucy Hynes (Lockport Township High School, USA) and Rachel Lynch (Putnam Science Academy).

Emma Tolan and Laura McFarland have been regulars for McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles, helping them to a 16-0 regular season in Domino’s Women’s Division One on their way to the end-of-season playoffs, as well as a first ever Women’s Division One National Cup title in January.

Meteors are represented by Moran and Prenter, who both played for Ireland in last season’s FIBA U18 Women’s EuroBasket. 

It will be Prenter’s second year at U20 level too, the point guard average 14.3 points from the seven games she played in last year’s tournament, including an eye-catching performance against Croatia in the knockout phase, where she picked up 23 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and six turnovers.

Katie O’Sullivan also returns to U20 level, having played in all seven games last summer and is one of two players from Liffey Celtics, with Georgia Munnelly also getting the nod.

Ireland finished fifth in last year’s tournament and are top seeds in Group B of the 2025 edition, with Great Britain and Ukraine their opponents. Head coach Karl Kilbride is hopeful his side can compete for silverware.

“Having seen the standard of players playing at National League level and in the Domino’s Women’s Super League throughout the country, we were really excited to begin. 

"We were hugely impressed with the level of talent at the two trial sessions we ran. It made our job in selecting an initial group a really difficult one. 

"It’s our job now to harness that talent to create a team, and a culture that is good enough and strong enough to go compete at the highest level”, Kilbride said.

Kilbride, who is in his fourth season as Ireland U20 Women’s head coach, added: “We’re going into the FIBA U20 Women’s EuroBasket Division B as a number one seed, with a huge opportunity to be successful. 

"With the group we’ve named here, we’re really excited for the summer ahead.”

Caitlin Gloeckner comes into the summer in top form with a 15.6 point average from her 16 Domino’s Women’s Division One games for Cleveland Rockets. 

Gloeckner also has tournament experience at U18 and U16 level, while Caoimhe Gilligan (Templeogue) and Emer Dunne (Glanmire) have both played for Ireland’s U18’s and Shannon Quigley (Portlaoise Panthers) featured for Ireland’s U16’s in 2022. 

Completing the squad are Lauren Concannon (Claregalway) and Shannon Smith (Killester), who are in line for their first representative Irish caps.

The squad will be trimmed down to 12 players ahead of the FIBA U20 Women’s EuroBasket.

Ireland U20 Women’s Squad:

Aisling Moran (Meteors), Ava Walshe (Brunell) , Caitlin Gloeckner (Phoenix Rockets), Caoimhe Gilligan (Templeogue), Emer Dunne (Glanmire), Emma Gribben (Dominican University New York, USA), Emma Tolan (Cavan Eagles) Georgia Munnelly (Liffey Celtics/Athlone), Grace Prenter (Meteors), Issy McSweeney (Brunell), Izzy Sullivan (University of Nevada, USA), Katie O’Sullivan (Liffey Celtics) Laura McFarland (Cavan Eagles) Lauren Concannon (Claregalway) Lucy Hynes (Lockport Township High School, USA), Rachel Lynch (Putnam Science Academy), Rebecca Sexton (Brunell), Shannon Quigley (Portlaoise Panthers), Shannon Smith (Killester).