Four Portlaoise Panthers Named In Ireland U-20 Women's Basketball Squad

Friday, 2 July 2021 14:55

They'll be part of the FIBA European Challenge squad in Hungary.

A sensational week for underage women's basketball in the midlands continues with the news that four Portlaoise Panthers have been named in the Ireland U-20 women's squad for FIBA U20 Women’s European Challengers 2021 in Hungary in July.

Lisa Blaney, Jasmine Burke, Ciara Byrne and Sarah Fleming are selected on the final 12 person roster for the games.

Ciara Byrne has also been selected as captain. It's an amazing achievement for the girls and superb recognition for the work being done in Portlaoise.

Head coach Martin Conroy acknowledged the difficulty of bringing the squad down to 12 ahead of the FIBA European Challengers;

“For our coaching staff, this was an unbelievably difficult decision to select a tournament 12 to represent Ireland in the FIBA U20 Women’s European Challengers tournament in Sopron, Hungary. That decision was made even more difficult by the fantastic group of players that have committed themselves to the programme over the past eight weeks. Their dedication and efforts are truly phenomenal and we, as a staff, appreciate this.”

“It’s exciting to move forward with these 12 players and we know that they will do our country proud when they play some of the best teams in Europe in ten days time. We have Spain, Hungary, Serbia, Czech Republic and Israel in our group, which is fantastic, and we look forward to pitting ourselves against these great teams in a tournament environment. An understatement would be to say it won’t be easy, but we’re confident that our players will be ready for the challenges we face.”

Ireland’s U20 women are playing Division A basketball, having secured promotion following a bronze medal at the 2019 FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship Division B in Pristina, Kosovo. They are in Group B at the FIBA U20 Women’s European Challengers 2021, it is a round robin tournament and Ireland start against hosts Hungary on Monday 12^th. It’s followed by games against Israel (13^th July), Spain (14^th July), Serbia (16^th July) and Czech Republic (17^th July).

IRELAND U20 WOMEN'S SQUAD:

Lisa Blaney (Portlaoise Panthers), Jasmine Burke (Portlaoise Panthers), Ciara Byrne (Portlaoise Panthers), Lauren Darcy (Templeogue BC), Sarah Fleming (Portlaoise Panthers), Mia Furlong (Glanmire), Kate Hickey (Waterford Wildcats), Niamh Kenny (Trinity Meteors), Erin Maguire (Ulster University Tigers), Molly Moffitt (Seattle Prep), Eve Nealon (Shippensberg University), Abigail Rafferty (Ulster University Tigers)

First Name	Surname	D.O.B.	Age	Height	Team	Position
Lisa	Blaney	02/05/2002	19	5’10”	Portlaoise Panthers	Guard
Jasmine	Burke	02/03/2002	19	6’1”	Portlaoise Panthers	Centre
Ciara	Byrne (C)	26/07/2002	18	5’8”	Portlaoise Panthers	Point Guard
Lauren	Darcy	01/06/2001	19	5’3”	Griffith College Templeogue	Point Guard
Sarah	Fleming	06/02/2002	19	5’10”	Portlaoise Panthers	Guard
Mia	Furlong (VC)	21/12/2001	19	5’11”	Glanmire	Guard
Kate	Hickey	15/10/2002	18	5’11”	Waterford Wildcats	Guard/ Forward
Niamh	Kenny	28/04/2001	20	5’8”	Trinity Meteors	Forward
Erin	Maguire	16/12/2002	18	5’7”	Ulster University Tigers	Guard
Molly	Moffitt	02/03/2003	18	6’1”	Seattle Prep	Guard/ Forward
Eve	Nealon	25/06/2001	19	5’8”	Shippensberg University	Guard/ Forward
Abigail	Rafferty	28/05/2002	19	6’0”	Ulster University Tigers	Centre

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