Ireland impress in 91-73 away win over Azerbaijan in FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers

Ireland 91

Azerbaijan 73

Captain fantastic Edel Thornton's Ireland pulled away in the fourth quarter to pick up an emphatic 91-73 away win over Azerbaijan in their FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers contest at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku on Saturday.

Maura Fitzpatrick led Ireland’s offence with 21 points and three assists, but scoring was evenly spread throughout the team, with Ella O’Donnell and Sarah Hickey each picking up 14 points and captain Edel Thornton hitting 13.

Ireland never trailed in this contest and settled into the game quickly, Fitzpatrick’s three had them 4-0 up. 

Azerbaijan brought into American dual citizen Arica Carter, who plays for Greek side Panathinaikos, for this contest and the point guard was a threat from the three point line in the early stages, landing twice in the opening quarter and her second made it 8-8 with four minutes gone. 

Enya Maguire, who was prolific from the three point line against Iceland, continued where she left off to land another midway through the opening quarter, to give Ireland a 13-8 advantage. 

Ireland would lead 24-20 by the end of the first quarter thanks to Thornton’s jump shot in the dying seconds.

O’Donnell again impressed, a fine illustration was when she forced her way to the basket through traffic for a neat layup, earning an additional free throw to help Ireland into a 27-22 lead a little over a minute into the second quarter. 

Ireland’s lead was up to eight, 30-22, shortly afterwards following Maguire’s second three. Azerbaijan were proving to be clinical from the three point line, efforts from Salminaz Ramazanli and Angelina Ismayilova either side of Fitzpatrick’s layup, closed the gap to four, Ireland were ahead 32-28 three and a half minutes in.

A corner three by Thornton, followed by her driving layup had put Ireland up by ten, 45-35, with less than two minutes to go, but their lead was trimmed to six by the end of the quarter, 46-40. 

Thornton had 11 points by half-time, with O’Donnell on 10 points and four rebounds.

A Hickey layup opened proceedings in the third quarter for Ireland. 

Lucy Coogan got her first points in an Ireland jersey with a pair of threes to help Ireland into a 61-53 lead with less than two minutes to go in the quarter. 

Katie Williamson also got her first ever Irish points with two free throws in the second quarter and she added four more points in the closing stages of the third quarter, with a layup and a jump shot to help put Ireland 64-55 ahead by the end of it.

Fitzpatrick landed her fifth three-pointer of the contest to put Ireland in command at 72-59 three minutes into the final quarter. Thomas Garlepp’s side kicked on, a seven point run with a hook shot from Fitzpatrick followed by three free throws from Maguire and two from O’Donnell had Ireland 83-66 up with three minutes left and they would see the game out to register a 91-73 win.

Asked if he’d felt any extra pressure with this contest being a must-win, Ireland women’s head coach, Thomas Garlepp, said he didn't.

“I certainly didn’t necessarily feel any extra pressure. 

"Our team probably came in I suppose as favourites I’d say, but they made some serious adjustments from their last game they played by bringing in a very good player (Arica Carter). 

"But for us, we scored 91 points and everyone got on the court and we nearly had seven players in double figures, so I was actually really encouraged by the ball movement. 

"A little bit of self-sabotage on the defensive end, but all told, it was pretty good I thought.” 

Ireland move to a 1-1 record in Group A and face Switzerland in their final game of the November window in Fribourg on Tuesday at 6pm. 

Looking ahead to that fixture, Garlepp assessed where he’d like to see improvements. 

“Just tighten up a few things I think, we’re on the right track defensively, it’s just a further bit of trust is what we need and we’ll go through film and talk about it, but I think we’re trending positively”, he stated.

Ireland against Switzerland in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers is live on TG4 Player and App at 6pm on Tuesday.

Azerbaijan: Aylin Akbarzade (0), Leyla Allahverdiyeva (6), Deniz Gokcol (4), Dina Ulyanova (9), Angelina Ismayilova (8), Salminaz Ramazanli (3), Shilan Akbingol (5), Madina Mammadova (0), Sitara Abbasova (0), Arica Carter (16), Polina Shchukina (22), Viktoriia Ulianova (0).

Ireland: Aoibheann Donnelly (1), Hazel Finn (0), Ella O’Donnell (14), Michelle Clarke (2), Lucy Coogan (8), Sarah Hickey (14), Katie Williamson (8), Enya Maguire (9), Emer Dunne (1), Edel Thornton (13), Katie O’Sullivan (0), Maura Fitzpatrick (21).