Ireland 53-69 Luxembourg
Ireland suffered a heavy defeat to Luxembourg in their opening Women's EuroBasket 2027 qualifier at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght.
Luxembourg are ranked 29 places higher in the world than Ireland but it was hoped that home advantage would negate some of that deficit.
Instead, from the start it was the visitors who looked like the host team, dominating physically early on and taking the game to Ireland.
Luxembourg racked up their highest points of any quarter in the game in the first 10 minutes, after which they led 21-11.
The second quarter was little different and at half-time the scale of the task for Ireland was becoming clear as they trailed 37-21.
Ireland's offence had faltered badly at that point and their field goal average of just over 17% in the opening half said everything about their struggles with ball in hand.
By the end of the third quarter, the result was beyond doubt as Ireland trailed by double scores 52-26.
To the home side's credit, they managed to make the scoreboard look less stark from there on as they outscored the visitors 27-17 in the final quarter with a hat-trick of three-pointers by the otherwise little used Bronagh Power Cassidy, contributing to a strong Irish finish.
But that final flourish came too late as Luxembourg ran their bench players late on in the game, safe in the knowledge that victory was already assured.
Ireland's top scorer was Hazel Finn on 10 points while Luxembourg had three players in double figures - Anne Simon (14) Dionne Madjo (13) and team captain Magaly Meynadier (13).
