'In the zone': Lupfer's record 55 in her own words

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You could sense something big was brewing.

Left-handed guard Riley Lupfer had been setting the NBL1 East women’s competition alight all season long for the Albury Wodonga Bandits.

She dropped 10 triples in the season-opener back in March, hit 12 long-range bombs against Central Coast in May — everyone knew she was one of the best shooters in NBL1.

That something happened in Round 13 on July 5, 2025 when Lupfer delivered arguably the best shooting performance we’ve ever seen, hitting a ridiculous 16 threes on her way to breaking the NBL1 all-time women’s scoring record with 55 points.

“It really is one of those games where you're not thinking and in sports, that's where you want to get to” Lupfer told basketball.com.au.

“If you're thinking too much, you're never really going to succeed to your full potential. It was one of those games where I felt if I could get it off, I had a great feeling it was going in.”

While Lupfer’s shooting heroics were rightfully the main attraction, the bench celebrations were must-watch viewing too. Her teammates were losing their minds, as were the Bandits men’s team and they played a surprising role in helping Lupfer break the record, as Albury Wodonga women’s coach Sam McDonald explained.

“She got to 51 and straight away said, ‘sub me, get me out’” McDonald said.

“Then one of the boys, Matt Gray, said 'isn't the record only 53?'. Then we got her back in, and I was like, ‘look, you've only got a short amount of time to try and do it’. She went out there and bang, four-point play straight up.”

The stats and efficiency speak for themselves: 16-from-22 (72.7%!) 3PT FG, 18-from-25 FG, five steals and four rebounds in the 111-72 win against Illawarra.

What the stats don’t show is the type of shots Lupfer was making. There was hardly a spot on the court that she didn’t connect from; whether it was the right corner, left corner, top of the key or even from beyond half-court when she drained an outrageous buzzer-beater to top off a third quarter in which she connected on five triples.

The American sharpshooter was on another level, and it was a pure shot-making clinic like nothing we’ve ever seen before.

Despite the long bus ride prior to the game, Lupfer admitted a competitive first quarter got the juices flowing and as they say, the rest is history.

“We had just got off a six-hour bus trip, so I wouldn't say I was feeling good,” she said with a laugh.

“The first quarter was so competitive, and I just had a fire lit under me after that.

"Then the competitiveness in me took over and I kind of blacked out a little bit, and that is what you want!”

As if hitting six triples in the first half wasn’t enough, Lupfer took the game away from Illawarra, who were trailing by just six points at the main break. She connected on three triples in the first two minutes of the third quarter and completed the magical third term with that buzzer-beater.

As the triples kept raining down, there was nothing the Illawarra defenders could do; they were simply witches hats in a shooting drill.

It was a fitting end to a game that will be remembered for a very long time, but in a show of Lupfer’s unselfishness and character, she initially didn’t want to break the record, thinking Lauren Jackson owned it.

“When I went on the bench with 51 points, I honestly thought it was Lauren Jackson who owned the record, so I was like, ‘I'll sit here, get ready for tomorrow’s game and let her keep that’, but once Sammy [McDonald] was said it wasn’t hers, then I had a bit more fire.”

McDonald, who is in his second year as head coach of the Bandits, having joined the team as an assistant in 2022, named Lupfer as the best shooter he has ever seen, and that’s no small feat considering the players he’s worked with.

“She is hands down the best shooter I’ve seen, and she’s got a green light from me,” he said.

“The range that that she can shoot it from, the difficulty, you look at the shots that she took with hands in her face.

“I was fortunate enough last year to coach Lauren [Jackson] and she had two 50-point games. One of them was against Sutherland, I think she only had 18 at half time and she just went bang, bang, bang.

“You get to see that and then you look at what Riley did, and you just go, ‘damn!’. The poor Illawarra girls, if you went back and reviewed the game, you probably couldn't fault too much of the defense, there's a hand right there and she's still just knocking them down.”

Lupfer first played in the NBL1 in 2023, when she suited up for the Launceston Tornadoes in NBL1 South, and you guessed it, she shot a very healthy 39.7% from deep.

Over a stellar four-year career at Boise State University, she connected on 39.1% of long-range attempts, a staggering feat of consistency on seven attempts per game.

With just three games remaining in the regular season and the Bandits sitting fourth with a 12-5 record, Lupfer believes her squad is capable of great things.

“It's a bit bittersweet with the season coming to an end,” she said.

“You don't want it to end, but you're so excited that we have an opportunity to actually win it all. It's been a long time since I've been a part of a team that's been able to say we could win it all, so we’re all really excited for it.”

For McDonald, he believes his team has something to prove to themselves, after going undefeated in the regular season in 2024, before falling in the finals.

“We kind of got the rep that we could only win because of Lauren last season, and that cut us deep,” he said.

“2025 has been big for our group and me to prove that we’re good and competitive with whoever is on our team. We have a chip on our shoulders, which is driving us towards our ultimate goal, and a desire to earn respect for our program.”

He has been working tirelessly building the Bandits program and identified the need for more outside shooting after last season, and it’s fair to say he couldn’t have recruited a more fitting player.

“I got to have the challenge of retooling the roster with Lauren finishing up and Unique Thompson was unable to come back in time for us because of commitments in Russia,” he said.

“We had flat out superstars and I had to find more superstars, and I've been very fortunate to do that in Riley, Caitlyn [Jones] and Brynn [Masikewich], who have been phenomenal for our group.”

Playing for a coach that truly believes in her and allows her to play to her strengths is all Lupfer could ask for.

“There's nothing better than having a coach that believes in you,” she said.

“I started the season pretty good from the three-point line, then I had a couple of games where everything was just in and out, in and out. I remember the moment when it finally clicked again; I was dribbling up the court on a fast break by and from the side I hear Sammy saying shoot it multiple times and so I pulled up and shot the transition three.

“It went in, and after that I've been out of the slump. As an athlete, that's just what you pray for when you get a new coach.”

Taking the NBL1 East by storm, you get the feeling WNBL teams would be taking notice of Lupfer’s game.

When asked if playing in the WNBL is a goal of hers, Lupfer kept it simple.

“I would not say no if they came knocking.”

Her coach believes she has earned the opportunity.

“I'm not being disrespectful to any of the other imports that come over, and we've got great shooters in Australia, but Riley is also an unbelievable shooter and all-round player,” McDonald said.

“I think going into that level of competition, she'd only get better too. You’ve just got to look at her body of work at Boise State, she set records there and she's a big-time player.

“She’s a great shooter and I'd love to see her in the WNBL, not only from her playing ability but her IQ, her leadership and just being a great human on and off the court.”