'Front foot': Shelley sets tone as Flames burn Lightning

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New Sydney point guard Jaz Shelley admitted the Flames spent Friday night on the back foot, but she made sure they set the tone two days later in a 95-68 rout of the Adelaide Lightning at Quaycentre in Round 1 of WNBL27 on Sunday, October 18, 2026.

Shelley, 26, who played for the Geelong Venom last season, finished with 20 points, four rebounds and two steals on 6-from-13 (2-for-6 from three and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe). She played on with a cut above her eye after a heavy fall late in the second quarter, patched up with a headband and what she called "some little stickers".

"It was fun," Shelley said.

"I think we didn't play our best on Friday night and we weren't happy with that. We came out tonight and moved the basketball.

"We played as a team. I thought it was unreal. Everyone was having fun."

Asked how she had found the game physically, Shelley said: "I think it was good. We were on the front foot more this game. On Friday, we felt like we were on our back foot, and tonight I think we set the tone."

Sydney are 2-0 after two games in three days, following their 77-73 win over the Southside Melbourne Flyers in Melbourne on Friday, when Shelley had 14 points and nine assists. Adelaide, the last of the nine clubs to open their season, are 0-1.

It was anything but a rout for the first 27 minutes.

Lightning import point guard Shay Ciezki had eight of her team-high 17 points in a tight first quarter, and the visitors led by as many as three before a Yang Shuyu layup with 20 seconds left gave Sydney a 17-16 lead at the first break.

Adelaide then went on an 8-0 run early in the second, a Ciezki jumper followed by back-to-back Tayla Brazel threes, to turn 22-16 into a 24-22 lead. It was the last time the Lightning were in front.

Flames forward Agnes Emma-Nnopu ended the run with a three, and Shelley, who scored 13 of her 20 in the second quarter, took it from there. She had just scored Sydney's last five points when she drew a foul and hit the deck with 3:41 left in the half, went straight to the bench, and was back on the floor 108 seconds later. She closed the half with a three and two free throws as the Flames went to the main break up 48-41.

Asked whether the fall had knocked her confidence, Shelley said: "No, I think I play my best when I'm aggressive, and I tried to do the same when I came back out."

Adelaide were still within six at 62-56 with 2:38 left in the third quarter, and that is where the game turned. Sydney went on a 17-2 run, with Isabelle Bourne burying a three with two seconds left in the quarter for a 70-56 lead, and by the time Lauren Nicholson laid one in with 7:57 to play it was 79-58.

The Lightning managed just 12 points in the fourth on 5-for-19 shooting (1-for-10 from deep), and Emma-Nnopu's back-to-back threes late in the game pushed it to 89-66. Sydney won the second half 47-27 and finished on their biggest lead, 27 points.

The Flames made 22 of 23 free throws, while Adelaide made 9 of 16, and out-rebounded the Lightning 51-29, including 15-7 on the offensive glass.

Yang matched Shelley with 20 points on 5-for-9, including 4-for-6 from three and 6-for-6 at the line, without a turnover. Nicholson had 19 points and 12 rebounds on 8-from-14, and Opal Bourne added 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Emma-Nnopu scored 11 off the bench as Sydney's reserves outscored Adelaide's 24-6.

Shelley said the Chinese star was already a big part of the group.

"She's the best," Shelley said of Yang.

"She is so involved in our team. She wants everyone to score. She's unreal off the floor.

"We want nothing but success for her, and she wants the same for us. It's really cool to play with someone like that."

Flames head coach Renae Garlepp said her rotations were better than the first game.

"Friday night probably didn't sit well with me with our rotations," Garlepp said.

"We kept it pretty short.

"As a coaching staff, we're trying to figure out what our rotations are and how we get the best out of everyone. That's probably the part I'm happiest about today: how we rotated and how well everyone settled into that."

Garlepp also expects guard Ally Wilson to return next week after she missed Sunday's game.

"I think it was 50-50 she was going to play today," Garlepp said.

"She's pulling up well, which we're happy about, so we're expecting to see her next week."

For Adelaide, Opal Zitina Aokuso had 12 points and 10 rebounds on 5-for-8 in her first game since moving from the UC Capitals, while Brazel scored 14, and import Madeline Westbeld had 10 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

Ciezki finished 6-for-18 in a game-high 37:32, and Lightning head coach Aja Parham-Ammar had no doubt about what her new point guard will bring.

"Oh, she's going to kill the league. Absolutely. I probably shouldn't say she's going to kill this league. She will," Parham-Ammar said.

"As soon as she starts getting comfortable and understanding where her shots are going to come from, and how to get everybody else involved as well as take over, she's a tough guard.

"She can shoot the ball way better than what she shot today, so looking forward to seeing her."

Parham-Ammar opened her press conference by pointing to "some fatigue, a little bit of cohesiveness, being our first time playing together". Forward Steph Talbot, who just finished the WNBA season with the Las Vegas Aces, stayed back in Adelaide.

"She's mentally had a long season, physically had a long season, so we didn't think it was a good idea for her to travel and push her body to a limit where injuries can happen," Parham-Ammar said.

"She's there. She's ready when we're ready for her, and we'll let the performance team let us know when that's going to be."

Aokuso said Sydney had come out "throwing the first punch" after Friday, and that the Lightning had heard the talk about their chances this season.

"I know a lot of people are talking about Adelaide not being in finals contention, and I think that's that chip on our shoulder," Aokuso said.

"We have a point to prove.

"That was just the first game where bodies were missing ... I think once we're at full strength, we'll be a group to look out for, for sure."

Adelaide hosts the Townsville Fire at the SA State Basketball Centre on Tuesday, October 20 (7pm AEDT), and Sydney returns to Quaycentre to face the UC Capitals on Friday, October 23 (7pm AEDT).

What you need to know

• The Sydney Flames beat the Adelaide Lightning 95-68 at Quaycentre in Round 1 of WNBL27 on Sunday, October 18, 2026, two days after their 77-73 win over the Southside Melbourne Flyers in Melbourne. It was Adelaide's first game of the season.
• Sydney won the first quarter 17-16, the second 31-25 to lead 48-41 at half-time, the third 22-15 and the fourth 25-12. Adelaide led by as many as three in the first quarter and last led at 24-22, after back-to-back Tayla Brazel threes midway through the second.
• Jazmin Shelley and Yang Shuyu top-scored for Sydney with 20 points each, and Lauren Nicholson had 19 points and 12 rebounds. Shay Ciezki led Adelaide with 17 points on 6-from-18.
• The game turned at the line and on the glass. Sydney made 22 of 23 free throws, Adelaide nine of 16, and the Flames out-rebounded the Lightning 51-29, including 15-7 on the offensive glass.
• Sydney broke it open with a 17-2 run across the last two and a half minutes of the third quarter and the first two minutes of the fourth, turning 62-56 into 79-58. They won the second half 47-27 and finished on their biggest lead, 27 points.

Sydney Flames

• Jazmin Shelley scored 20 points with three assists and two steals on 6-from-13, including 2-from-6 from three and 6-from-6 at the line, with five turnovers.
• Yang Shuyu also scored 20, on 5-from-9 with 4-from-6 from three and 6-from-6 at the line, without a turnover in 27:35.
• Lauren Nicholson had 19 points, 12 rebounds and four assists on 8-from-14, without a turnover, and scored six of her points in the fourth quarter.
• Isabelle Bourne had 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks on 3-from-13, including 2-from-9 from three, and Sydney were plus-23 in her 28:33, the best mark in the game.
• Agnes Emma-Nnopu scored 11 off the bench on 4-from-7, including 3-from-6 from three. Her back-to-back threes late in the fourth made it 89-66.
• Darcy Rees had six points and four rebounds off the bench on 2-from-3 in 14:46.
• Isabelle Morgan had four points and three assists off the bench, with five turnovers.
• Charlise Dunn scored three points with two steals off the bench in 15:27.
• Maya Dodson started and had five rebounds and two assists, without scoring, in 16:09.
• Sydney shot 30-from-67 from the field, 13-from-40 from three and 22-from-23 at the line, with 51 rebounds (15 offensive), 16 assists, eight steals, five blocks and 16 turnovers.

Adelaide Lightning

• Shay Ciezki top-scored with 17 points, three assists and two steals on 6-from-18, including 1-from-6 from three and 4-from-6 at the line, in a game-high 37:32.
• Tayla Brazel scored 14 on 5-from-10, including 3-from-6 from three. Two of those threes, back to back in the second quarter, gave the Lightning their last lead at 24-22.
• Zitina Aokuso had 12 points and 10 rebounds on 5-from-8, with 2-from-5 at the line.
• Madeline Westbeld had 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and a team-high three steals on 4-from-15.
• Jessica McDowell-White scored nine on 4-from-6 with four assists, without a turnover.
• Elissa Brett scored five off the bench on 2-from-7, including 1-from-6 from three.
• Sienna Lehmann had a point and a rebound off the bench, and Adelaide were plus-one in her 11:37, the only Lightning player on the positive side.
• Adelaide shot 26-from-66 from the field, 7-from-26 from three and 9-from-16 at the line, with 29 rebounds (seven offensive), 13 assists, 10 steals and 12 turnovers.