Kilkenny’s Lucy Coogan makes Ireland U20 team for FIBA European Championships in Romania

Kilkenny’s Lucy Coogan has been named on the final 12-person squad for Ireland U20 Women’s trip to FIBA European Championships in Romania next month.

Head coach Karl Kilbride has selected an experienced squad, with five players returning from the FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship roster who competed in the ‘A; division a year ago including University of Galway Galway Mystics’ Kara McCleane and Waterford Wildcats’ Sarah Hickey.

Two debutantes will make the trip to Romania, Dublin Lions duo Katie Flanagan and Emily Smyth. Both enjoyed successful domestic campaigns in 2022/23, helping their team to an InsureMyHouse.ie Women’s Division One National Cup in the process. Smyth averaged 7.7 points per game in the MissQuote.ie Division One, shooting 64% from the line. Flanagan helped herself to 5.7ppg with a 70% success rate with her free throws. 

Kilkenny’s Lucy Coogan, currently Stateside on a scholarship at Caldwell University, Maria Kealy (Ulster University Tigers) and DCU Mercy’s Micaiah Fubara bridge the gap from the Ireland U18 setup. Coogan, already capped 15 times for Ireland across U16 and U18 level, put in an impressive showing at the 2022 FIBA U18 Women’s European Championship, finishing as Ireland’s second-leading scorer (14.4ppg) behind Sarah Hickey (18.4ppg). She also chipped in with a valuable 8 rebounds and 2 assists per game during the tournament. Kealy proved an effective facilitator, contributing 7.4 assists per game to go with 5.4 rebounds and a team-high 36 minutes per game.  

Ireland will compete in the FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship B Division in 2023 and have been drawn in Group B alongside Romania, Greece and Georgia. The competition gets underway on 28 July.

“Selecting 12 players from the group that we started with is one of the toughest processes we’ve ever had to go through as a coaching staff”, Kilbride said of the team announcement.

“There’s so much ability and experience in the extended group, resulting in some serious talent missing out. We couldn’t possibly be more excited to be working with and going away with the 12 girls we have. We’re really fortunate to have the depth of experience we’ve got in the team, playing at the highest levels in our National League, The United States and also previous FIBA Youth European Championships. We have an intense and busy summer ahead, with tough stops in Czech Republic and Croatia, before heading to Romania for the European Championships at the end of July. With the effort and commitment that the girls have shown so far continuing, we’re hoping for a really successful few months in front of us.”

All at Scoreline and KCLR wish Lucy Coogan the very best on her inclusion in the Championships team.

Irish team for U20 FIBA European Championships