Ireland were edged out by Romania this afternoon in a tense encounter at the FIBA Europe Under 16 Women’s basketball championships. The women in green fell to a 62-54-point loss which now puts them into a fifth to eighth place classification game this coming Saturday. It was end-to-end action on court, with Ireland’s opening six points coming off fast breaks as both Dayna Finn and Louise Scannell drove forward, and with a solid performance by Claire Melia, Ireland led at the end of the first, 12-10. The intensity of the game picked up in the second quarter, with steals by Maggie Byrne, Rachel Huijsdens and Finn forging the way for a 13-0 run. Niamh Masterson and Sorcha Tiernan combined to give Ireland a five-point lead, but an undeterred Romania dug deep and fought back to within one (25-24) at the half time buzzer. Just 14 seconds into the third, the on-form Dayna Finn hit double figures as she netted a superb three-pointer. Meanwhile, Maggie Byrne and Louise Scannell also got in on the scoring and capped a 9-0 run to send Ireland into the lead at the end of the quarter, 42-28.

FT: Ireland 54-62 Romania at #FIBAU16Europe. Two games left means two wins to target #LockUpGreen

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) August 20, 2015

However, Romania were ready for the challenge in the last, and forced turnovers which produced scores and suddenly, the game was back in the melting pot. With five minutes left on the clock and nerves running high courtside, Romania pushed ten clear and Ireland’s shooting percentage was faltering. Claire Melia made a jump shot and then grabbed her 16th rebound to tee up Dayna Finn and force a Romanian timeout with two minutes left. Finn went on to hit two from the line to move to 20 points before Scannell’s execution on the break made it a one-possession game with 90 seconds left. Romania countered with back-to-back baskets to ease their nerves and time ran out for Ireland after a thrilling game of basketball. Ireland: Dayna Finn (20), Louise Scannell (8), Amy Murphy, Claire Melia (9), Rachel Huijsdens. Substitutes: Maggie Byrne (10), Sorcha Tiernan (5), Enya Maguire, Maeve Phelan, Amy Dooley, Niamh Masterson (2), Mae Creane.