Treble joy for UCC Glanmire after victory over Brunell

The Address UCC Glanmire have completed the domestic treble, following their 82-68 MissQuote.ie Champions Trophy victory over Singleton SuperValu Brunell in the all-Cork final at the National Basketball Arena.

An outstanding first half performance from Ireland international Claire Melia put Glanmire in control. The forward converted all four of her three-point attempts on her way to a 24 point haul in the first half alone. Melia would finish with 26 in total, on the way to picking up the MVP.

Singleton SuperValu Brunell were without Ireland co-captain Edel Thornton, who injured her MCL in their semi-final win over WIT Waterford Wildcats. Thornton is often the player who dictates the tempo for Brunell and her absence was keenly felt. It meant that more responsibility shifted to their two Americans, Shannon Ryan and Kwanza Murray. They duly led stepped up, registering 16 and 10 points by half-time, however they trailed 60-35.

Brunell kept plugging away and had a strong third quarter, outscoring Glanmire 16-7, with Ryan scoring half their points and they trailed 67-51. Ryan would finish the game with 26 points.

A Kwanza Murray three pointer just after the midpoint of the fourth quarter instigated a run. Katie Walsh followed with a layup and a three point jump shot of her own to make 74-66 with 3'45" to go. Another Murray layup and it was a six point game.

Four points from Glanmire’s Tierney Prifman stemmed the tide and they led 78-68 with a minute and half to go and would eventually win it 82-68.