Edel Thornton leads Ireland to victory over Norway

Ireland 78 Norway 63

A win for Ireland in the JYST International Summer Series at the National Basketball Arena, with a strong performance.

The girls in green were in control from early on and had standout performances from their Leeside captain Edel Thornton, Sarah Hickey and Ella O’Donnell to lead 42-35 at the half.

To be honest, Ireland were at a higher level and even without some of their star players still had too much firepower.

Thornton was delighted to get the win and praised her teammates for putting in a great performance.

"I thought our Euro Cup experience told today, as we played some wonderful basketball at times," she said.

"Our young players were incredible on both sides of the floor and they executed offensively when we needed baskets.

"Even though it’s the summer it shows the commitment of all the girls, as they gave up their time again to get ready for this game."

Sarah Hickey gave Ireland the perfect start when Thornton found her with a peach of a pass to lead 2-0 in the very first play of the game. The visitors then raced into a 7-3 lead with baskets by Micol Torresani and Karoline Teigland. 

However, three long-range efforts by Enya Maguire and two from Sorcha Tiernan had Ireland leading 14-11 after six minutes of play. 

The hosts finished the period with a pair of foul shots by Ella O’Donnell to take a 23-16 lead into the second quarter.

Sarah Hickey gave Ireland a 26-16 advantage with another pair of foul shots and then two nice baseline floaters by Hazel Finn and a breakaway layup by Thornton to increase the lead 40-24 with four minutes remaining. 

The visitors reduced the deficit with two big efforts beyond the arc from Severine Uggen and Stine Austgulen to trail 42-35 at the half.

Ireland made a solid start to the third quarter with two breakaway layups by O’Donnell, a long three by Maguire and a basket inside the paint and bonus by Hickey to increase their lead 53-42 after four minutes of the period. Both sides traded baskets for the remainder of the period with Hickey hurting the Norway side inside the paint, bringing her tally to 19 points. 

It was 67-49 entering the final period. With the game over as a contest, coach James Weldon was able use various rotations by getting minutes into all his squad.

The star of the show was Ella McDonnell, as she worked tirelessly all over the floor.

Top scorers for Ireland: Sarah Hickey, Ella McDonnell 11, Enya Maguire 9, Hazel Finn 9.

Norway: Stine Austgulen 11, Anna Horvig Wikstrom 11, Karoline Teigland 10.

IRELAND: Edel Thornton, Enya Maguire, Kate Hickey, Sarah Hickey, Hazel Finn, Lauryn Horan, Abigail Rafferty, Ella O’Donnell, Annalise Murphy, Kara McCleane, Sorcha Tiernan, Lorraine Scanlon.

NORWAY: Maren Mildestvedt, Tori Halvorsen, Vilde Havnes, Stine Austgulen, Synne Jacobsen, Sunniva Sobye, Anna Horvig Wikstrom, Severine Uggen, Karolne Teigland, Micol Torresani, Nora Rotherud.

Referees: Armands Immers (Meath), Ruth O’Neill (Belfast), Paula Gisbert (Limerick).