Ireland women’s EuroBasket hopes over after suffering heavy defeat to Israel
Women’s EuroBasket 2027 qualifier: Ireland 54 Israel 90
Israel's Dorian Dahan Sujic gets up close and personal with Ireland's Edel Thornton, Sarah Hickey and Lorraine Scanlon during the Women's EuroBasket 2027 qualifier at Komandas Sporta Spelu Halle in Riga. Photo: Roman Koskarov/SportsfileIt was a St Patrick’s Day to forget for Ireland’s women as their faint hopes of qualifying for EuroBasket 2027 were extinguished with this behind-closed-doors drubbing against Israel in Riga.James Weldon’s charges had given themselves a chance of making the second round of qualifiers with an away 81-78 victory over Bosnia on Saturday, but they required at least a victory here to advance.Having been beaten by just seven points by the same opposition last November, the team believed that they could go one better in their final game of this campaign.However, it was a different story in Latvia this time.Ireland’s top scorer Sarah Hickey, who scored 18 points, registered the game’s first points from the free-throw line, but that was to be the only time that they led.Israel, who have now won every game in their campaign, proved formidable opposition and quickly ran into a 29-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and then led by 48-21 at half-time.The gap only continued to grow and there were 42 points between the two sides at one point, with top scorer Dorian Dahan Sujic (20) one of four Israeli players to reach double figures on the scoreboard.Weldon’s charges will take some consolation from the two wins over Bosnia in this campaign after a four-year wait for victory. They will also be relieved this controversial fixture is behind them, having played Israel four times in the last two years.
