DCU Mercy are the 2007 Women's SuperLeague Champions after a stunning display beating UL Aughinish 79-65 at the UL Arena in Limerick this afternoon.
It was a meeting of the two best sides in the Women's SuperLeague this season with UL Aughinish finishing top of the league with DCU Mercy finishing runners up.
However, DCU Mercy had a psychological edged going into this crunch encounter having beaten UL twice already this season, including an impressive victory in the UL Arena in November last.
UL Aughinish came flying out of the traps in the first quarter looking to make an impression on their home court and soon gained momentum thanks to scores from Courtney McDaniel and Dearbhla Breen.
Jillian Aherne rounded off UL's best play of the opening half of the game with a two point score before DCU looked to make up a seven point deficit with scores from Mary Fox and Suzanne Maguire.
Mercy came to within three points of UL before Jillian Aherne edged the hosts two points further ahead as the quarter entered its midway stage.
But, a three pointer from the outstanding Mary Fox was followed by a basket from Ann Marie Healy to tie the game at 11 points apiece.
The scoring remained tit-for-tat throughout the remainder of the 1st quarter but it was to be the Dubliners who would go in at the end of the first quarter interval in the lead 20-18
In the second quarter DCU Mercy turned on the style with Mary Fox and Suzanne Maguire running rampant and clocking up the scores between them.
Lisa Palmer fought tirelessly to keep UL's dreams alive as she sunk some vital scores to keep her side within touching distance of their opponents.
Unfortunately for UL, Mercy began to find their top gear and two three point efforts by Helena Kenny inflicting maximum damage for Mark Ingle's outfit.
Mercy were soon enjoying a ten point advantage over UL as the quarter drew to a close and with Fox and Maguire maintaining their scoring prowess DCU remained ten point to the good at the half-time interval (37-27)
Jim Nugent must've delivered a stern team talk to his side as UL came storming out in the third quarter and seemed to find the form that stood them in good stead throughout the season.
Marie Guiney was finding her shooting range as was Dearbhla Breen whose three point play brought UL Aughinish back into the game as they trailed DCU Mercy by two midway through the quarter (39-37).
Once again however, Mary Fox turned on the style as the American sunk two free throws followed by a stunning three-pointer to restore a seven point lead while Suzanne Maguire chipped in with a three point basket to restore the ten point lead.
Dearbhla Breen endeavoured for UL and notched up some points for her side but as the game entered the final quarter DCU Mercy held the upper hand leading 56-45.
In the final quarter DCU Mercy continued their dominance with Mary Fox and Helena Kenny dominating in the offensive plays.
Lindsay Peat who was in fantastic form for Mercy ran into foul trouble but the rest of the side pulled together and kept UL Aughinish firmly out.
Miriam Liston and Maire Guiney were on the mark for UL but as the quarter progressed it was apparent that the title was sipping away from the Limerick side.
The closing stages of the final quarter saw Becky Woods convert a free throw with Ann Marie Healy also on the mark before Mary Fox secured her Most Valuable Player Award statues with fantastic free throw conversions to round off the game as Champions 79-65.
