31
Oct
2026
Aussies in the WNBA
19th title brewing between Isobel Borlase and Miela Sowah
Lauren Jackson, Miela Sowah, Isobel Borlase, Penny Taylor and Belinda Snell. Photo: Getty Images
A coffee, a walk and her dad: Borlase's ritual before Game 7 decides Australia's next WNBA title.
- Isobel Borlase or Miela Sowah will collect Australia's 19th WNBA championship in Game 7
- Borlase is averaging 6.0 points in 17.5 minutes off the bench in the Finals
- Eleven Australian players hold 16 titles, and Sandy Brondello has two as a coach
- Every game of the 2026 WNBA Finals
Isobel Borlase or Miela Sowah will collect Australia’s 19th WNBA championship tomorrow (Sunday, November 1, 2026 AEDT).
For 22-year-old Borlase, it won’t be until she completes her daily ritual.
“I just like to go for a coffee walk,” the reigning WNBL MVP said before Game 6 in Atlanta that was forced into a morning tip-off because the Atlanta Hawks were playing later that night.
“It’s very, very Australian of me: Go and get a coffee. My dad’s here, so I just go and hang out with him. And yeah, nothing different.”
“As long as I get my walk in the morning, I’m happy.”
The Atlanta Dream forced a Game 7 after dominating the Golden State Valkyries 80-69 to send the series back to San Francisco.
Sowah, 26, is a Development Player for the Valkyries and is not on the playoff roster but will still be a WNBA champion if Golden State wins its first title, in just its second season.
Eleven Australian women’s basketballers have won a combined 16 titles after Seattle Storm teammates Lauren Jackson and Tully Bevilaqua became the first in 2004.
Australian Opals head coach Sandy Brondello won two as a head coach – Phoenix Mercury in 2014 and the New York Liberty a decade later in 2024.
Bendigo Spirit star Borlase has averaged 17.5 minutes in the Finals, delivering 6.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. She has carved out genuine rotation minutes off the bench in her first season in the WNBA and was just one of seven players head coach Karl Smesko used with the Dream’s season on the line on Friday (AEDT).
“Obviously the playoffs just goes up another level, but I feel like I’ve been playing professionally; I’ve been playing international basketball for a little while now,” Borlase said.
“So I think obviously it’s a bit of a shock to the system straight away, but I’m definitely starting to feel more comfortable with the level of physicality.
“And yeah, we’ve got to match it. They’re a physical team, and I think we can do that.”
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