IN A game where plenty of players delivered strong outings, it was Sophie Taylor who stood above the rest as the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence defeated the Hornsby Ku Ring Gai Spiders.

The Centre of Excellence boasts plenty of young talent, developing the next generation of basketballers at the AIS in Canberra. It has also been a recipe for success to start the 2025 fixture, with the CoE coming into the clash with four wins from five games to start the year, and having a seriously strong crop of players coming through.

The Spiders were going to be no easy beats however, improving on last season and rallying behind the impressive play of Jessie May Hall and came into the clash with a positive record of three wins and two losses.

The game was panning out as the close contest many expected, with a thrilling first half seeing the Spiders take a one-point buffer into the main change at AIS on Sunday afternoon. However, the CoE broke the game open with a 35-19 third frame, and although the visitors improved in the fourth, it was not enough, as the hosts claimed an 18-point triumph to move to 5-1.

There were several young players that impressed for the CoE, but Taylor was immense off the bench in the win, delivering her best performance of the season and putting her name on the radar.

BA CoE (95) def. Hornsby Ku Ring Gai Spiders (77)

Sophie Taylor – 22 points, six rebounds, one assist, three steals

Taylor was huge in her presence from behind the arc, with the young gun nailing five triples and playing a vital role in the CoE’s fifth victory of the 2025 season.

It was a slow start for Taylor, who did not nail her first field goal until she splashed home a triple with just over a minute to play in the second quarter. It was a crucial make however, tying up the game heading into the main break and proving an ominous sign of things to come.

The defining patch of the game for the CoE and for Taylor came late in the third quarter, when she went on a serious run shooting the ball, nailing three triples in just a couple of minutes, helping the CoE break away on the scoreboard and get some breathing space over the Spiders.

It was the perfect demonstration of just how easily she can turn a game on its head with her shooting from behind the arc, and with a quick fire shooting action that comes through her legs and wrists, the defence barely has time to contest her shots.

Taylor was not done yet, nailing her fifth triple late in the fourth term to seal the result in emphatic fashion and put the game well and truly out of reach from the Spiders, who fell 18 points short in the end.

She finished the match with a team-high 22 points off the bench, shooting 8/17 from the field and 5/14 from behind the arc in an electric display of sharpshooting. If she continues to perform at this sort of level and consistently find the bottom of the net from range, the CoE may be in for a big season.