Trinity Basketball’s College Varsity teams debuted at home last Thursday in two fiery games against UCD.
Women’s Varsity 57-47 UCD
After falling to UCD at the Edinburgh Invitational Tournament in September, the Women’s Varsity team came into this matchup hungry for payback. Trinity came out on both ends of the floor with fire, defending with intensity and pushing the pace in transition. The energy from Sean Mulligan’s side was clear from the opening possessions, as they set the tone early and refused to let UCD settle.
Franciska Treiliha was relentless, going to the rim, blowing by defenders with her sharp first step and finishing smoothly through traffic as Trinity quickly jumped out to a 10-0 lead. Hazel Finn’s speed proved to be a difficult task for UCD to handle, as she blew by multiple defenders repeatedly and dropped pinpoint passes to set up her open teammates. An Eleanor Fitzsimons floater and Ciara Mulligan mid-range pull-up pushed Trinity’s lead to 15 as the first quarter came to an end.
Trinity continued to push the pace, capitalising on UCD’s slow transition defence at the start of the second quarter. The ball movement was exquisite, as the basketball was zipped around like a hot potato with every player getting touches before the final look. 5th year veteran, Lisa Blaney, kicked things off by finding Treiliha open on the wing, and then Captain Ciara Mulligan drilled back-to-back threes as 3-pointers began to pour in the Sports Centre. A beautiful back-door cut from Hazel Finn, set up by a terrific bounce pass from Ava Learn, capped off a near-perfect first-half from Trinity, as the side entered the break with a dominant 27-point lead.
The second half saw Trinity take their foot off the pedal, which gave the UCD the opportunity to chip away at the lead and regain momentum. Despite excellent defensive efforts from Freya Reilly and Ríona Grealy, which helped maintain a double-digit lead, Trinity’s offensive output slowed significantly, with the team managing just five points in the third quarter. UCD carried their momentum into the final quarter, outscoring Trinity 22-9 and threatening to overturn the lead. Kenzi Francis sparked the comeback effort with 13 points in the fourth alone, but Trinity’s advantage proved too large to overturn, and they held on to secure a 10-point victory.
Trinity’s Women’s Varsity team will return to the Sports Centre on Tuesday, November 25th, taking on Ulster University at 3pm.
Men’s Varsity 61–85 UCD
Having split their last two encounters, both teams entered this game wanting to gain the upper hand. Liam Smyth put Trinity on the board early with a nice tap-in off a missed shot. However, it was UCD who came out stronger to start, sinking three early 3-pointers to quickly build a double-digit lead. This forced Trinity to play catch-up for the remainder of the game. Jan Eric Brandt provided a huge spark off the bench, as he came on and immediately impacted the game with his tenacious defence. An extraordinary off-balance 3-pointer from Cian Tiernan at the end of the shot clock cut Trinity’s deficit to just eight points, despite their shocking start.
UCD switched to a zone defence in the 2nd quarter, which pushed Trinity to take more 3-point attempts. Thomas McCourt, Jens Örnehed and Cian Tiernan all knocked down shots from deep as Trinity tried to mount a comeback. Nevertheless, sloppy turnovers kept giving UCD easy baskets, preventing the deficit from shrinking. It became clear that Trinity had to work extremely hard for every score, while UCD seemed to find their points with ease. An impressive acrobatic bank shot off one leg by Samuel Rex, a flawless wrap-around pass from Thomas McCourt setting up Cian Tiernan and Liam Smyth’s timely block off the backboard kept Trinity in the fight, heading into half-time trailing 34-41.
Cian Tiernan took over in the 3rd quarter, hitting three massive 3-pointers as Trinity cut the deficit to just four points. Jens Örnehed contributed six straight points, using his strength to drive to the basket, draw fouls and calmly convert his free throws. With Trinity, heading into the final quarter only five points behind and momentum firmly on their side, it promised to be an exciting finish. Instead, Trinity’s final quarter turned into a nightmare, scoring only two points, missing six consecutive free throws and committing numerous turnovers. Murray Baker’s side ruthlessly exploited every mistake, punishing Trinity repeatedly on the fast break and effectively crushing any hopes of a comeback as UCD sealed an 85-61 victory.
Trinity Men’s Varsity now turn their attention to TUD, aiming to get back on track when they face them on Wednesday, 19th November at 6pm in TUD Tallaght Campus.
