Defeat For Claire Melia's Ferrol, But Monasterevin Native Picks Up Silver Euro Cup Medal

Ferrol lost to Villanueve 84-70 on the night

Ireland international and Monasterevin native Claire Melia has become the first Irish woman to pick up a European club medal, but her side Baxi Ferrol were unable to overturn a four-point deficit in the second leg of the FIBA Women’s Euro Cup Final.

The Spanish outfit lost out 84-70 on the night and 162-145 on aggregate against Villeneuve d'Ascq LM of France in Lille, capping a historic first season for Melia in Galacia with a silver medal.

The 25 year-old adds a FIBA Women’s Euro Cup medal to a cabinet that already contains two FIBA Youth EuroBasket medals, as well as every domestic honour in Irish basketball.

The home side showed no signs of nerves early, racing into a 7-0 lead before Baxi Ferrol could respond – Moira Joiner draining a three following a pass from Melia, her first of four assists in total on the evening. Her first points came with 3:26 remaining in the quarter, a driving layup reducing the arrears on the night to five, 17-12.

Two more assists would follow before the end of the first, Julie Pospisilova the beneficiary on both occasions as the Spanish side - who had come through the qualifiers to earn a spot in the tournament back in September - fought to keep their dream alive.

Backed by a sold out arena in Lille, Villeneuve d'Ascq were not going to be denied in their bid to win a second FIBA Women’s Euro Cup though. This success arriving a decade on from when they first raised the trophy and they duly found their range superbly in the second and early in the third to put the tie to bed.

When Melia next found the basket with 6:55 to go in that third period, the score had reached 51-37 and Ferrol now needed to outscore their opponents by 18 in the closing stages if they were to pull off the miracle within the miracle. It was not to be.

Melia’s final points of her European season came just under two minutes later, as she got to work beneath the basket in what has been a staple of this European journey. One more assist followed to Angela Mataix for a pull up jump shot with 8:20 remaining, but Meila and the Ferrol faithful will have to settle for a silver ending to a fairytale campaign.  

Melia was philosophical about the loss afterwards: “We thought we'd be closer to them, but they played very well today. They couldn’t miss and they played well as a team on defense all around the court. Look, we never thought we’d be here and now we have a silver medal, so it’s not too bad.

Speaking directly to young basketball players and fans watching her back home, she added: “Maybe someone else will be over here or someday, everyone has their own journey. You never know what can happen, but always remember there’s more to life than basketball.