Coming into the game as the reigning Varsity champs and fresh off their League title in March, Trinity College’s Women’s Varsity felt extremely confident and fully prepared to take on a young and strong UCD squad. Having won their two previous encounters this season, including a narrow one point win at Colours a week prior, Trinity's Women’s Varsity expected UCD to come out and play with an extra bit of fire, looking to upset their biggest rivals.
The 6 April 2025 game started off slow with both teams struggling to score as nerves played a factor. Looking to swing the momentum in Trinity’s favour, coach Hillary Nets reassured his squad and implemented some tactical changes. Trinity began to chase UCD off the 3-point line and force them to the interior where 6'6" centre Emma Merriweather would be waiting. Merriweather would end altering or blocking all the shots inside the key from UCD. The fear of Emma’s presence inside the paint resulted in UCD panicking and throwing careless passes that would be picked up by Lisa Blaney, Hannah Murphy, Alex Mulligan and Ciara Mulligan. The turnovers created by Trinity would then be converted into easy fast break points. This helped to create momentum for Trinity to push ahead and not look back from.
Experience was a big factor in the game, with Trinity having multiple players playing in the Women’s Superleague and having played multiple college finals before compared to UCD who were playing in their first Varsity final in over a decade. This showed in the biggest of moments as Trinity showed composure and brilliant decision making to score pivotal baskets.
One such example came from Irish international Alex Mulligan who cleverly inbounded the ball off her defender’s back (when she wasn’t looking) and scored a silky reverse layup at the basket. Another came from Ciara Mulligan who had a wide open 3-point shot but selflessly decided to give up her shot and make an extra pass to the interior to reward Merriweather who had managed to free herself underneath the basket. The cherry on the cake was Franciska Treiliha’s corner 3-point shot that was set up by some beautiful ball movement from the girls where every single player touched the ball at least once in the offence. At halftime, Trinity held a commanding 11 point lead.
The third quarter saw Trinity turn it up a notch defensively and only allow UCD to score 4 points. Trinity’s defence effort instilled confidence offensively for the girls as 3-points shots began to fall. American fresher, Avelina Moley Stoltz caught fire in the 3rd quarter scoring three massive 3-pointers resulting in Trinity jumping out to a 24-point lead. Bree Shelley was a bright spark off the bench for Trinity, as she looked to carry her momentum from a massive performance at Colours last week into the final. Scoring 4 big points and providing great defensive tenacity, Bree showed out in her in first ever Varsity final.
Despite entering the last quarter with a comfortable lead, Trinity would not let put the foot off the pedal. Avelina Moley Stoltz continued to be aggressive offensively using her speed and agility to get out on the break for easy baskets. Her game high tally of 14 points allowed her to take home the esteemed Finals MVP Trophy. A huge achievement for Lina in her first year with Trinity Basketball. Riona Grealy, Ailbhe Ryan, Aoibhinn Walsh and Aisling Courtney all provided valuable contributions on both ends of the floor for Trinity to help to seal the win in the 4th quarter.
It was great to see Captain Hannah Murphy, battling it out until the end as what would be her last ever game for Trinity College. An illustrious career in red and black jersey with multiple titles and awards won, there could not have been a better ending for Hannah than lifting the Varsity trophy one more time.
Overall, a fantastic tournament and team performance saw the Trinity College Women’s Varsity team complete the Double and end their season with a perfect and undefeated record of 12 wins and 0 losses. Hannah Murphy and Emma Merriweather were named tournament All-Stars but the team was so talented and deep that the whole tournament’s All-Star team could have been Trinity players. Congrats to the girls and coach Hillary on an amazing tournament and a well deserved win!
Final Score: Trinity College 55-31 UCD
Finals MVP: Avelina Moley Stoltz
Top scorers: Avelina Moley Stoltz 14, Emma Merriweather 11
Trinity College: #4 Lisa Blaney, #6 Franciska Treiliha, #7 Avelina Moley Stolz, #8 Aoibhinn Walsh, #9 Aisling Courtney, #10 Ailbhe Ryan, #11 Ciara Mulligan, #12 Riona Grealy, #13 Hannah Murphy (C), #14 Bree Shelley, #17 Alex Mulligan, #20 Emma Merriweather. Coach: Hillary Nets.
UCD: #4 Hannah Byrne (C), #5 Sinéad Keane, #6 Claudia Comellas, #7 Zara Troy, #8 Aoife Cullen, #9 Ebie Ni Lideadha, #10 Aoife O’Connell , #11 Kellie Murphy, #12 Jenin Zaru (C), #14 Jessie Li, #15 Niamh Sherlock. Coach: Adam Drummond.