Team Montenotte Hotel Crowned Women’s National Cup Champions

Cork’s Team Montenotte Hotel was crowned National Cup Winners 2014/2015 with a resounding win over Pyrobel Killester at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght. The dynamic sister duo of Gráinne and Niamh Dwyer were the stars of the Cork side’s victory, with Gráinne – Her.ie’s Sportswoman of the Year 2014 – notching a whopping 21 points for her side. With the game neck-in-neck in the opening two quarters, it looked like the result would come down to the wire. Cork just had the advantage at the break, leading 25 points to 24 and many spectators believed it was going to be Killester’s day to shine. However, reigning champions Team Montenotte Hotel had other ideas and pulled through in the third quarter opening up a 45 – 32 gap. The fourth quarter proved to be a mere formality though with Team Montenotte continuing to punish Killester under the boards. Despite fantastic performances from Killester’s Robin Murphy and team captain Aisling Sullivan, it just wasn’t enough in the face of the Dwyer sisters and outstanding displays from Aine McKenna and Marie Breen. In a game where the defences were largely on top, it was Team Montenotte Hotel who had the aggression, the skill and ultimately the determination to pull through to win. The Cork side ran out winners on a final scoreline of 62 to 36 with Gráinne Dwyer named Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second year in a row. “We knew if we could keep the score down, we’d win the game,” Dwyer said afterwards. “We kept them to 24 points in the first half. It all came from there.”