METEORS remained on course to retain the Women's Sprite Cup at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght last night, with this clearcut 68-51 semi-final victory over Tolka Rovers, who never recovered from a disastrous first quarter.

Tolka lined out without one of their best players, Sharon Kelly, who missed the game through injury, and they were guilty of over-compensating for her loss in the early stages.

Meteors had lost to Tolka only five days earlier in the league; but in a controlled performance last night, their match-up zone defence and fast breaking helped them take a remarkable 25-2 lead after just 12 minutes.

From there on the burden of playing catch-up against a physically bigger team was too much for Tolka, who nonetheless hassled and harried to eventually find their scoring rhythm; but the effort was never enough to peg back the deficit.

Meteors led 37-19 at half-time, and although outscored by Tolka in the second half, their advantage was never less than 12 points.