Hot Flames 'Shelley-shock' defending champs on banner day

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Guard Jaz Shelley came into WNBL27 with clear goals in her pursuit of becoming an Australian Opal and a WNBA player.

"I need to be a consistently better shooter, a better decision-maker, play through more physicality and also be a consistently good defender," she told basketball.com.au in an exclusive interview in early October.

"That includes my three-point shooting and being a lockdown defender. I think those two things can add to the Opals and hopefully get my name out there, or a shoo-in or something like that."

Four games into WNBL27, the Sydney Flames are 4-0, their best start since 2011-12, after rolling the defending champions Townsville Fire 90-77 on the road in Townsville in Round 2 on Sunday, October 25, 2026. The Fire raised their championship banner before tip-off.

Shelley, drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in 2024, led all scorers with 26 points, six rebounds, six assists, and three steals on 10-for-15 shooting, including 4-for-6 from three.

"Jaz has been great for us in all four games," Flames head coach Renae Garlepp said.

"I think she's had a great start to the season. It's no surprise to me.

"Today, especially with Ally (Wilson) out, Jaz had to control tempo a lot with us in the point spot. But probably most impressive today was her defence.

"I thought she did a great job defending their guards and getting over screens. As a result, we got stops and were able to run."

Shelley credited Garlepp with elevating her game.

"I think it's a bit of everything," she said today.

"Renae and the coaching staff do a really good job of allowing me to play free, and I have the players around me who help me be successful.

"We instil so much confidence in each other, from coaching staff to teammates.

"I think it's just a really, really cool environment to be able to perform.

"(Townsville) is a really, really hard place to play, let alone get a win.

"I think we've just got to stick to the game plan and not get too high and low. We did a really good job of, when the crowd was getting into it, someone would hit a huge shot.

"Just trying to weather that storm along the way."

Sydney won their first seven in 2011-12, went 5-0 in 2004-05 and 6-0 in 2007-08 but they have a few more to go to eclipse the all-powerful 1997 team that went 18-0.

"Definitely happy with the start for us," Garlepp said.

"To be honest, we're probably not going to get too high on it. It's very early in the season. So many teams are so new, and a lot of teams don't have their full rosters yet.

"I think we'll probably approach Tassie just like we've approached the previous four games. Every approach has been exactly the same, and just keep finding ways for us to get better.

"It's been a big 10 days, but pretty proud of the group. After every game, just adjusting to little things and keeping on going through the adversity. It was a good game by everyone tonight.

"(Townsville) are an incredibly tough team. They're really well coached, and they play really well with each other.

"We had a game plan based off their personnel that we wanted to double down on defensively, be a bit more gritty and move with the ball a bit better than we have. Thankfully, we had success."

Fire head coach Shannon Seebohm's championship core is back, but the Fire are 1-2 to start their title defence.

"The result is not really the thing that's disappointing," he said.

"I think it's more how we've played our first few games. We're just lacking a lot on the defensive end. I feel like it's starting there.

"There are things on offence we need to be better at, coming into these games and being able to match or exceed the other team's level of effort, physicality and commitment on that end of the floor.

"That's probably where we're letting ourselves down. We're having a lot of breakdowns. Teams are getting some really easy shots right now, and I just feel like we don't have a lot of cohesion. We've got a lot of work to do."

The five-time WNBL Coach of the Year was less than subtle in his assessment of his veterans.

"To be honest with you, I thought the only time we actually did well was when we had three of our development players on," Seebohm said.

"Bree (Stephens) was out there, Ant (Emma-Nnopu) was out there, and Cheyenne (Bobongie) came in for a couple of minutes to relieve at point. That was probably the only time we actually put a bit of a dent in the margin and made some plays.

"Chey made a nice pass off a ball screen to the roller, and we got a layup. Ant was out there working her butt off, trying to keep people off the boards and hustling on defence.

"That was probably the part for me, especially in the second half, where we needed a bit of a response and to lift, and we got it.

"Then they called a timeout. We got back to 11 and made a sub, and then we allowed them to come down and hit a wide-open three on the very next play. Then it was basically game over.

"We've got a lot of things to work out right now."

What you need to know

• The Sydney Flames beat the Townsville Fire 90-77 at the Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre in Round 2 of WNBL27 to stay unbeaten at 4-0.
• Sydney led 23-18 after the first quarter and 47-41 at half-time, then won the third 28-12 to lead 75-53. Townsville won the fourth 24-15. The Flames led from the first basket to the final siren, by as many as 22.
• Jazmin Shelley top-scored with 26 points, six rebounds and six assists on 10-from-15, and Marie Gülich led Townsville with 21 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
• Sydney made 12 of 26 three-pointers to Townsville's six of 17, an 18-point gap in a 13-point game.
• Townsville opened the fourth quarter with eight straight points to cut the gap to 14, and Sydney answered with three threes in 63 seconds from Yang Shuyu, Isabelle Bourne and Lauren Nicholson.

Milestones

• Courtney Woods passed 500 career WNBL rebounds. She started the game on 498 and her second rebound, with 8:42 left in the fourth quarter, was her 500th. She finished on 501.
• Woods is now 16 points short of 1,500 career WNBL points after scoring 13 (1,484).
• Lauren Nicholson played her 184th WNBL game, 16 short of 200.
• Jazmin Shelley's six assists took her to 195 for her WNBL career, five short of 200.

Sydney Flames

• Jazmin Shelley top-scored with 26 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals on 10-from-15, including 4-from-6 from three.
• Agnes Emma-Nnopu added 14 points and six rebounds on 6-from-9 off the bench, with nine of her points in the third quarter.
• Isabelle Bourne scored 13 with five assists, going 3-from-8 from three.
• Lauren Nicholson had 12 points and five assists on 5-from-10 in 34 minutes.
• Yang Shuyu scored eight on 3-from-4, including both her three-point attempts.
• Charlise Dunn scored seven in eight minutes off the bench.
• Maya Dodson had six points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.
• Sydney shot 33-from-62 from the field, 12-from-26 from three and 12-from-14 at the line, with 33 rebounds, 23 assists and 11 turnovers.

Townsville Fire

• Marie Gülich top-scored with 21 points and eight rebounds off the bench, going 6-from-11 from the field and 8-from-10 at the line.
• Courtney Woods had 13 points, four assists and two steals on 5-from-10, with 11 of her points in the fourth quarter.
• Lauren Jensen scored 12 on 5-from-9, including 2-from-4 from three.
• Alexandra Fowler had nine points, three rebounds and three assists on 4-from-6.
• Abbey Ellis scored nine with a team-high six assists, on 4-from-14.
• Alicia Froling had eight points, four rebounds and two steals before fouling out.
• Bree Stephens added three points in 14 minutes off the bench.
• Townsville shot 29-from-63 from the field, 6-from-17 from three and 13-from-18 at the line, with 32 rebounds, 17 assists and 15 turnovers.