1
Aug
Aussies in the WNBA
Magbegor and Smith show glimpses five weeks from Berlin
Seattle Storm star Ezi Magbegor drives to the basket against Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese during the fourth quarter of Seattle's WNBA game at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia, on August 1, 2026 (AEST). Photo: Colin Hubbard/Getty Images
Highlights
Australia's starting World Cup front court – Magbegor and Smith – is back from injury and building.
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Australia's starting 2026 World Cup front court Ezi Magbegor and Alanna Smith both showed glimpses of their quality in limited minutes on Saturday.
Magbegor, 26, scored 12 points in 14 minutes for Seattle, going 4-from-7 from the field and 3-from-3 from the line and adding two steals. Smith, 29, put up 11 points and five rebounds on 4-from-6 in 18 minutes for Dallas.
Between them that is 23 points on 8-from-13 shooting in 32 minutes of court time. Neither played half a game.
The minutes are the point. Magbegor missed Seattle's first 20 games with the foot injury she suffered playing for Australia in the World Cup qualifiers, and has come back on a restriction. Smith's season has been broken up by injury since a preseason facial fracture, and she returned to limited minutes of her own, a fortnight after telling this masthead she felt great heading into the World Cup.
Australia opens against Puerto Rico in Berlin on 4 September. Five weeks. Both players start.
What their minutes do between now and then matters more to the Opals than either result did, and on Saturday the production was already ahead of the workload.
Around them it was a hard day for Australians on losing teams.
Jade Melbourne produced the most complete Australian line of the day and went home beaten. The 23-year-old ran the Storm offence for 25 minutes, handed out six assists, took three steals and scored nine points on 2-from-7 shooting. Seattle have now lost eight straight and sit 6-25, last in the Western Conference, in a 98-89 defeat to Atlanta.
Isobel Borlase took three shots off the other bench, made one, and left with the best plus-minus of any Australian in the league. The 21-year-old scored three points in 14 minutes and finished plus-7. Atlanta have won five in a row and sit second in the East at 18-10.
Georgia Amoore missed all four of her three-point attempts in Washington and finished with two points, and the Mystics won anyway, 81-75, for a fourth straight win. Smith's Dallas have now lost two in succession.
Nyadiew Puoch was the quietest story of the day and its most efficient scorer, the 22-year-old coming off the Portland bench for 10 points on 5-from-8 in 18 minutes as the Fire went down 112-98 to Indiana. That is four straight losses for Portland.
The Australians, game by game
Atlanta Dream 98 def. Seattle Storm 89
- Isobel Borlase (Atlanta Dream): 14 MIN, 3 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 0 TO, 0 BLK, 1-3 FG, 1-1 3PT, 0-0 FT, +7
- Ezi Magbegor (Seattle Storm): 14 MIN, 12 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 0 TO, 0 BLK, 4-7 FG, 1-3 3PT, 3-3 FT, +2
- Jade Melbourne (Seattle Storm): 25 MIN, 9 PTS, 1 REB, 6 AST, 3 STL, 3 TO, 0 BLK, 2-7 FG, 1-4 3PT, 4-4 FT, -6
Washington Mystics 81 def. Dallas Wings 75
- Georgia Amoore (Washington Mystics): 18 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 1 TO, 0 BLK, 1-5 FG, 0-4 3PT, 0-0 FT, -5
- Alanna Smith (Dallas Wings): 18 MIN, 11 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0 TO, 0 BLK, 4-6 FG, 1-3 3PT, 2-2 FT, -1
Indiana Fever 112 def. Portland Fire 98
- Nyadiew Puoch (Portland Fire): 18 MIN, 10 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 2 TO, 0 BLK, 5-8 FG, 0-1 3PT, 0-0 FT, -8
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