Kildare's Claire Melia returns to Ireland squad for EuroBasket qualifiers

Claire Melia is set to make her first appearance for Ireland since claiming a silver medal with BAXI Ferrol in the FIBA EuroCup Women last April. The Kildare native is named in James Weldon’s 12-person squad for the three-game window in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers, having missed the friendly wins over Norway in July.

Three players are in line for their FIBA Women’s EuroBasket debuts – Bronagh Power-Cassidy, Enya Maguire and Lorraine Scanlon. Power-Cassidy and Maguire both made their international debuts against Estonia in August 2022, while Scanlon made her bow in the 78-63 win over Norway in July.

Power-Cassidy has concluded an impressive Stateside career, where she finished the 15th highest scorer of all time with Holy Cross, on 1425 points, winning the Patriot League twice. She then played for Villanova Wildcats during 2024/25 season and is now a graduate assistant coach with the team.

Maguire is another recent US college graduate and is now playing club basketball in Spain. She has featured regularly for Ireland in summer friendlies, against Estonia and Portugal in 2022, Uganda, Denmark and Netherlands in 2024 and against Norway in 2025. She also played with Ireland’s 3x3 team in the 2024 FIBA 3x3 Women’s World Series. 32-year-old Scanlon helped Utility Trust St. Paul’s to the Domino’s Women’s Super League final last season and is an intercounty footballer with Kerry.

Ireland begin their FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 qualifying campaign with two home games at the National Basketball Arena. They face Luxembourg at 5pm on Wednesday, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina at 1925 on Saturday, both of which are live on TG4. Ireland are scheduled to face Israel in Riga, Latvia on November 18th.

Ireland defeated Norway twice last July, with the second of those a 75-67 success in a behind-closed-doors contest.

Ireland head coach, James Weldon, said: “Our squad is in good shape, Claire Melia is coming off the back of a hugely impressive FIBA EuroCup Women silver medal last season with her club BAXI Ferrol. We also have some positive momentum, thanks the two friendly wins over Norway in the summer.

I’m delighted to welcome Bronagh Power-Cassidy, Enya Maguire and Lorraine Scanlon into the squad for these FIBA Women’s EuroBasket games. Each of them is really excited about the prospect of making their competition debut. Bronagh and Enya had distinguished college careers in the States, while Lorraine was influential in getting Utility Trust St. Paul’s to the Domino’s Women’s Super League final last season.

This November window presents a tough challenge for the squad, with three games in six days. Our two home games against Luxembourg and Bosnia and Herzegovina will hopefully give us a good platform to build on, as naturally we’re eager to get some wins early in the campaign to give us the best possible shot of making the second round of qualifying.”

The winners and runners up from each of the seven groups qualify for the second round of FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers, along with the three best-ranked third-placed teams.

Tickets for Ireland’s FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers against Luxembourg and Bosnia and Herzegovina can be purchased here.

Ireland women’s squad

Hazel Finn (Trinity Meteors), Edel Thornton (Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell) Sorcha Tiernan (FloMAX Liffey Celtics), Abigail Rafferty (GDESSA-Barreiro, Portugal), Bridget Herlihy (unattached), Bronagh Power-Cassidy (Villanova Wildcats), Enya Maguire (HGB Horbisa Greenkw Barakaldo, Spain), Lorraine Scanlon (Utility Trust St. Paul’s), Claire Melia (BAXI Ferrol, Spain), Michelle Clarke (Killester), Sarah Hickey (SETU Waterford Wildcats), Kate Hickey (SETU Waterford Wildcats).

Fixtures
FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers

Wednesday, November 12

Ireland v Luxembourg, 1700, National Basketball Arena, Live on TG4

Saturday, November 15

Ireland v Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1925, National Basketball Arena, Live on TG4

Tuesday, November 18

Israel v Ireland, 1800, Komandas Sporta Spelu Halle, Riga, Latvia

Wednesday, March 11

Luxembourg v Ireland, venue/time tbc

Saturday, March 14

Bosnia and Herzegovina v Ireland, venue/time tbc

Tuesday, March 17

Ireland v Israel, venue/time tbc

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