16
Oct
Aussies in the WNBA
'Be who you are': Angel's Finals message to WNBL MVP
Highlights
Angel Reese backs Australian rookie Isobel Borlase to make a big impact in 2026 WNBA Finals
- Angel Reese has backed 22-year-old Australian Isobel Borlase to play a significant role in the WNBA Finals.
- Borlase has grown from averaging 7.4 minutes in May to becoming a trusted contributor in Atlanta's playoff rotation.
- Borlase and Golden State's Miela Sowah are guaranteed to give Australia another WNBA champion.
WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese had just one message for Australian Opals star and Atlanta Dream teammate Isobel Borlase ahead of Game 1 of the Finals against the Golden State Valkyries: “Be who you are.”
Game 1 is Sunday at 6:30am (AEDT).
Reese, 24, led the Dream to a 30-14 regular-season record and swept Georgia Amoore’s Washington Mystics (2-0) and Bec Allen and Anneli Maley’s New York Liberty (3-0) in the playoffs to reach the Finals against Miela Sowah’s Valkyries.
Rookie Borlase, 22, played all 44 regular-season games and averaged 4.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 13 minutes off the bench.
“To be 22 years old and being able to come to this country, and come to Atlanta, and just thrive and be super confident is just what has helped us all year,” Reese said.
“We told her how important the bench is gonna be. It’s no different from her playing overseas. She was a WNBL MVP for a reason, and I kept reminding her about that.
“Like, ‘be who you are’. Don’t shy away from who you are. We got your back, and if anybody messes with you, we got your back.
“But yeah, I’m happy for Izzy, and she’s gonna be big in this next series.”
An Australian will be a WNBA champion as early as Sunday, October 25 (AEDT). Sowah is on the Valkyries roster but will not play, as she is a development player, while Borlase will remain a key bench contributor.
WNBL26 MVP Borlase has grown from a bench player averaging just 7.4 minutes in May into a trusted member of Atlanta's playoff rotation, averaging 14.1 minutes after the FIBA Break and 13.2 minutes in the playoffs.
In two games against the Liberty, he had 21 points in 33:12, shooting 9-for-15 from the field.
- October 7 vs New York: 11 points, including three triples, in 13:38.
- October 9 @ New York: 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting in 19:34.
It came off the back of Borlase's historic performance for the Australian Opals at the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup.
She finished with 30 points, four rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes as Australia survived Italy’s stunning fourth-quarter comeback, erasing a 26-point deficit to tie the game at 77 with 1:09 to go. Still, Australia gutted it out to win 82-80 despite being down to nine healthy players.
Borlase’s Bendigo Spirit play their first WNBL27 game against Canberra in Canberra less than 24 hours before her first WNBA Finals game at the Chase Centre in San Francisco.
Game 7 of the WNBL Finals is on November 1, 2026 (AEDT), so Borlase could return for the rematch with the Canberra Capitals on November 7 in Round 4.
Sowah’s defending champions, Townsville Fire, face the Geelong Venom on Thursday, November 5, and won’t play again until November 15 against the Caps in Round 5.
But between now and then, two Australian Opals – and WNBA rookies – will have a WNBA championship ring.
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