AFTER RECORDING FIVE wins from five in the group stages, the Ireland U18 women’s basketball team are hoping to reach the final four with victory over Israel in the National Basketball Arena this evening.
The tournament hosts are the first ever Irish underage side to come through the European Championship Division B group stages unbeaten after victories over Moldova, Macedonia, Slovkia, Ukraine and Great Britain.
With a points differential of 209, Tommy O’Mahony’s side are conceding an average of just 44 points per game, but face an Israeli outfit averaging more than 72 ppg through their five games (4-1) to date.
“[Israel] are really tough,” O’Mahony said after Ireland topped Pool D with a win over Ukraine on Wednesday.
They have a lot of guards and a lot of shooters – they like to shoot the three in transition. We’ll have to work on our defence, big time.”
Today’s quarter-final throws in at 6.15pm in Tallaght.
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