Just wow! Red-hot Borlase, injured Opals survive Italy

• ‍Game One: Smith injury fears as Opals fight off Puerto Rico‍
• Game Two: Opals skipper makes it look Ezi to beat Turkiye‍
• Game Three: Belgian Revenge: Rivals maul Opals to top Cup group

When the moment arrived for the Opals, so did WNBL26 MVP Isobel Borlase – becoming the fourth Australian to score 30 or more in World Cup history.

Borlase, 21, 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.

Opals star Alex Wilson hit two CLUTCH free throws with 8.3 seconds to put Australia up four. Italian Vittoria Blasigh splashed a logo three to cut it to one; Borlase was fouled, missed the first, and made the second with 4.6 seconds left, but Italy's Francesca Pasa blew an open lay-up to force it to overtime on the buzzer.

The Opals now head into a showdown with Spain in the quarters on Friday, September 11 at 4.45am.

Australians Jean Foster (1967), Liz Cambage (2018) hold the points record with 34, Lauren Jackson had 33 against France in 2002. See the Top 10 Below.

Backs to the Wall

• Alanna Smith ruled out for the rest of the tournament before tip-off.
• Ezi Magbegor suffered a knee injury with 5:51 left in the first quarter. She did not return.
• Jade Melbourne played 3:18 in the first half. She did not return. Status: Flu.

“I told Isobel before the game that this was her game and she was going to step up," head coach Sandy Brondello said.

"You could feel that she was getting more comfortable, and this kid is only 21. What a great experience for her.

“I thought Alex Fowler was really good for us, but then we lost Jade (Melbourne) too. Alex Wilson has been to Paris, but this was a little different situation, and then there’s Zitina (Aokuso)

“The only way you grow is by going through these experiences. I’m thankful that we won, but we can learn a lot from how they felt in that moment and what they would do differently next time.

“(Stephanie Talbot) was the lone warrior out there and I’m thankful for that because she’s had a great tournament.”

Brondello said there was no status update on Magbegor.

“Not at the moment," she added.

"It’s too late to get anything done. My heart sank when I saw her go down because she’s so impactful for us.

“Now we’ll pray that she’s okay. We don’t know, so we’ll see what the result is tomorrow. She’s walking, and that’s a good sign.”

On Melbourne, Brondello said: “Your guess is as good as mine. She wasn’t feeling well. We gave her three minutes and she couldn’t go back in.

“I hope so, because Jade gives us athleticism and another ball-handler, especially against Spain.”

Borlase said the game was a steep learning curve for the young Opals.

“It was definitely a game of runs towards the end," she said.

"It just shows that momentum can change so quickly and you’ve got to be prepared to stop it earlier. We probably didn’t do that.

“We’ve got a young group and you can only learn from these experiences. At the end of the day, we got the win.

"A win’s a win and, in these tournaments, they’re super valuable.”

What Happened

Borlase lost her starting spot to Alex Wilson for the FIBA Women’s World Cup quarter-finals qualifier against Italy but came in early in the first quarter and put scorching heat on the rim.

It set the tone early for the Atlanta Dream role player, pouring in 12 points in seven minutes, 3-for-3 inside the paint and 6-for-6 from the free throw line, the catalyst for Australia’s two point win.

Australia led 69-49 at three-quarter time. But Italy started the fourth on a 5-0 run and then cut the lead to 71-58 with 8:03 to go, forcing Brondello to call a timeout. It didn’t stop the run as Australia’s injuries started to take their toll. Italy cut it to five with 77-72 with 3:16 to play.

2025 Co-WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith was ruled out for the rest of the tournament before the game, and WNBA champion and All-Star Ezi Magbegor had to be helped off the floor just four minutes in with a non-contact knee injury. She didn’t return.

The Australian captain jammed her right leg on the floor, planting for a play-up. She had to be helped off the floor but walked unassisted into the locker room. She returned to the bench with an ice pack on her knee and a hoodie on.

Opals head coach Sandy Brondello said before the game: “I think it’s just executing the scout. I thought our one-on-one defense and our transition defense had too many breakdowns all across the court (against Belgium).

“I think there was a lack of communication, so there are simple things we can fix.

“Offensively, I think we went away from what works, and that’s ball and player movement. We worked on that today, and we’re excited to get out on court and put it all into action.”

And they did. The Opals led 26-13 at quarter time, 48-33 at the half, and 69-49 at three quarter-time. But Italy started the fourth on a 5-0 run and then cut the lead to 71-58 with 8:03 to go, forcing Brondello to call a timeout. But it fell apart in the fourth quarter.

“Number one, I’m happy that we won," Brondello said.

"I thought we played really good basketball for 30 minutes. For 10 minutes, the momentum changed and we got a little tentative.

“Credit to Italy. They just kept fighting, they played small and physical, and they made some really tough shots too. But we can learn.

“Obviously, it took the wind out of us with Ezi getting hurt and Jade being too unwell to play today, so we were a little limited. I feel like it follows me from Toronto because I had my whole team injured.

“We still have an opportunity tomorrow to keep fighting, and that’s what we’re going to do.

“I’m excited that we’re in the quarter-finals. That alone is an achievement with how many players we have out.

“We keep fighting. We’re still going to have the Australian mentality. We’re going to get in there and give it a real crack.

“Spain has a lot of little guards and a few big post players who are generational talents. We’ve got our hands full, but we’ll come up with a game plan and see what we can do.”

But, regardless of the result against Spain, the Opals just survived in one of the gutsiest wins in Australian basketball history.