Division 1 League Final: NUIG Mystics vs Ulster University
NUIG Mystics will square off against Ulster University in the MissQuote.ie Division 1 League final at the National Basketball Arena on Sunday March 13, 2022, at 3pm.
Ulster road to the final include a 20-point win margin against Partlaoise Panthers with the scores 90-70.
Both sides meet for the first time since 13 November, where Ulster team guard Lexi Posset 28 points display led the team to a hard-fought 77-74 win against the Mystics.
The NUIG ladies’ basketball team are hoping to lift their second trophy of the year, after obliterating Griffith College Templelogue at the InsureMyHouse.ie Division One National cup final by 68-35 score line.
They also defeated the same opponents en route the final with an 86-70 score line.
Speaking to Galway Pulse, coach of the Mystics team Paul O’Brien said his team would have to be at the top of their game to win.
“Ulster are a really good 3 points shooting team, so we are working to close out on their shooters as well as possible
They beat us in the regular season and their rebounding gave them the edge, so we will be looking to be aggressive on both the defensive and offensive rebounding side of things.”
Speaking further on the tactics deployed for Sunday’s final, the NUIG Mystics coach hopes to utilize his team’s explosiveness to stop Ulster’s captain Aoife Callaghan and her teammates.
“We will be trying to use our pace and our depth to win this game, Ulster don’t have the depth that we do, so we will be looking to use that to our advantage”
Captain of the side Aoife Ryan shared her expectations ahead of the final.
“A little bit nervous, University of Ulster are the one team we haven’t beaten yet so it’s certainly going to be a challenge, but I think we are well prepared, we are looking forward to it, we have been doing this all season”.
The NUIG Mystics are winners of the Southern Conference while Ulster University won the Northern conference losing only two of 14 matches.
The winner of this final gets promoted to the Superleague in addition to lifting the All-Ireland Division One title.
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