Brunell's Edel Thornton re-appointed as Ireland women’s captain

Cork's Edel Thornton has been reappointed as Ireland WNT basketball captain, continuing in the role she’s held since 2022. 

New Ireland head coach Thomas Garlepp said the 29-year-old had “the respect of the group” and was a “comfortable choice”, while Thornton added it was “an honour” to remain as captain.

Speaking about his decision ahead of Ireland’s FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers game with Iceland on Wednesday, Garlepp stated: “She’s got the experience, the respect of the group. I think more than anything this is a player that is quintessentially Irish in her values, she fights like no other player, she’s completely interested in team first and she’s from my point of view just a really, really selfless, caring person for the person to the left and right of her. 

"We have a lot of players like that on the team, but I her combination of those traits, plus her experience make her quite a comfortable choice.” Asked about Thornton’s reaction to the news, Garlepp added: “Oh I think she was grateful to have that opportunity again. 

"I think what was more indicative was the reaction of her teammates, a lot of smiles, a lot of nods ‘of course’, this is the right person for that role, but she’ll have a lot of support from some other people in the ranks already, that are either emerging or still have some respect in terms of their voices within the team, so it certainly won’t all fall on her shoulders, but the title and the responsibility of captain she’ll be perfect for.” 

Thornton has appeared 21 times for Ireland in FIBA European Championship for Small Countries and FIBA Women’s EuroBasket. 

She battled back from cruciate ligament injury sustained January 2024 - which forced her to miss four games in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers - to return to the Ireland fold for a friendly win over Norway in July 2025. 

She then played all six fixtures in the FIBA EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers, helping the side to two victories against Group A top seeds Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Speaking about her reappointment, Thornton said: “Yes it’s great and it is an honour, but I guess we’ve just been focussing this week on that everyone is a leader in their own right, on the floor and off the floor and we’re just trying to gel together as a group and get the best connections that we can and putting people in the best positions to be as successful as they can be and lead in their own way. 

"So look it’s very much a team leadership role and somebody needs to be named as captain. 

"Look, it’s great to be named, but again as I mentioned there’s 12 leaders there.” 

Looking ahead to the Iceland game, Thornton outlined their playing style. 

“What people can expect from us on Wednesday as a group is that toughness and grit that we always bring and a lot of aggressiveness both offensively and defensively. 

"We’re trying to put them under pressure all the time, whether the ball is in our hands, or whether we don’t have the ball in our hands playing defence, we want them to feel our presence at all times.

“So I think it will be an up tempo and physical game and that’s what we’re looking for. 

"We’ve got a lot of players who can play at a high level, so being able to rotate allows us to be as effective as we can when we are on the floor, so it should be really enjoyable.” 

Thornton leads a Ireland squad with four potential debutants – Aoibheann Donnelly, Katie O’Sullivan, Katie Williamson and Lucy Coogan - while Ella O’Donnell is in line for her first FIBA Women’s EuroBasket appearance, having made her debut in a friendly against Latvia in August 2022.

Ireland’s game Iceland tips off at 7pm on Wednesday at the National Basketball Arena and is live on the TG4 Player and App. 

Ireland then face two away fixtures, against Azerbaijan and Switzerland on November 14th and 17th respectively.

Ireland senior women’s squad Edel Thornton (Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell), Ella O’Donnell (Manchester Basketball, England), Emer Dunne (Career Decisions UCC Glanmire), Enya Maguire (KK Studio Zagreb, Croatia), Hazel Finn (Trinity Meteors), Katie Williamson (FloMAX Liffey Celtics), Lucy Coogan (Essex Rebels, England), Maura Fitzpatrick (Caledonia Gladiators), Michelle Clarke (Killester), Sarah Hickey (SETU Waterford Wildcats), Aoibheann Donnelly (Cleveland Rockets), Caitlin Gloeckner (Cleveland Rockets) Katie O’Sullivan (VSC Cavan Eagles)