There was disappointment for DCU Mercy last Wednesday as they were beaten by University of Limerick in the all-Ireland Colleges final at the national basketball arena in Tallaght.
DCU, who defeated the same UL team in the 2012 Intervarsity Final, were beaten by 12 points on a score line of 68-56, despite being down by just three at half time.
However, the lead-up to the game was far from ideal for DCU. Katie Kilbride, DCU’s only natural point-guard, was missing with an injury she picked up in their semi-final triumph over NUI Galway.
Kilbride, who is also the chairperson of DCU lady’s basketball, is adamant, however, that the loss will not dent the team’s confidence.
“We were pretty disappointed because we were expecting to win. The last time we played them was in the intervarsity final last year and we beat them, so we were going into it quite confident.
“We were down one player because of my injury, but we did get off to a good start. However in the second half the baskets just didn’t go our way and everything just started to go against us.”
DCU were drawn in Pool A of next month’s Women’s A Intervarsity championship, alongside Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork and Queen’s University Belfast.
The championship is set to be held in Cork this year, with DCU opening up the defence of the title that they won last year against Dublin rivals Trinity College.
Kilbride went on to say that the real prize is the intervarsity championship, and that the players’ heads remain firmly focused on retaining their title
“We’re looking forward to intervarsities now.The defeat in the league final was disappointing but the intervarsities are the pinnacle for us.
So we’re training really hard towards that and we’ll be looking to win it.”
Cian Murray
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