Wildcats continue their winning streak ahead of the playoffs
Wildcats Tiarra Brown glides past Fr. Matthews Abby Murphy.
The STS-sponsored SETU Wildcats made it 4 wins in succession on Saturday, last with a victory away to Father Matthews. The final score of 71-93 in favour of the Wildcats leaves the Cork city team winless with one game remaining in the regular season and confirms relegation to Division 1, which is sad for a club with so many fine players.
Tiarra Brown hit the opening score in what was a far from perfect performance from the Wildcats, who found themselves trailing 6 -2 in the early stages as the home side hit consecutive three pointers. A jump shot and successful free shots saw Kate Hickey level the game before Alyssa Durazo swished a trio of three pointers, which were added to with more scores from Orla Dullaghan and Sarah Hickey to leave the Wildcats up by 14 points, leading 15-29 at the end of the opening quarter.
With things looking bleak for Fr Matthews, they got stuck in responding to the home supporter's encouragement and scored many unanswered baskets as the Wildcats fumbled several opportunities. Scores from the Hickey sisters, Kate and Sarah, plus a contribution from Tiara Brown, left Wildcats in front at the break, but only by five points (40-45).
From the restart, Fr Matthews were quick to score, cutting the deficit to a single point, signalling a wakeup call to Wildcats, who soon got their game together with a succession of scores from Sanija Brikmane and the Hickey sisters. As the game entered the final quarter, the Wildcats were back in control, leading 54-70. That advantage was enhanced by scores from Helena Rohan and Orla Dullaghan before Ardiana Shallci hooked up with Alyssa Durazo for a succession of scores that put the game well beyond the home side, and the Wildcats won comfortably in the end by 71 points to 93.
Coach Jillian Hayes will be well aware that a similar hit-and-miss performance will not be good enough to make it to the playoffs in a couple of weeks' time. Prior to that, the Wildcats are on the road to the Capital to face an in-form Killester side. The result of this game, plus results elsewhere, will determine who plays whom in the Super League quarter finals.
