AN excellent offensive performance from Isobel Borlase sparked the Adelaide Lightning to an 11-point win over the Southside Flyers in Round 3 of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL).

Both teams came into Saturday evening’s clash at Adelaide 36ers Arena around the same mark, although the Flyers were favourites, given they had claimed one more win than the home side. Southside was also in excellent form, having claimed a pair of wins the week before, while the Lightning fell to the unbeaten ladder-leaders in Perth.

After a tight start to the game, the Lightning broke away in the second term and never looked back from there. The home side kept the Flyers quiet offensively, and nailed their own shots. The biggest factor in the game was the contrast in three-point shooting. While Adelaide didn’t shoot the lights by any means, its 26.9 per cent made three-pointers was far superior to Southside’s 9.5 per cent shooting from behind the arc. A lack of success from downtown ensured the home side cruised home to a 67-56 victory in front of an ecstatic crowd.

Borlase was the best player on the court for the winning side, proving unguardable at times and delivering her best performance of the season as a result.

Adelaide Lightning (67) def. Southside Flyers (56)

Isabel Borlase – 25 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals

Borlase was excellent for the Lightning, continuing to cement herself as one of Australia’s best young basketballers, and at just 19 years of age, is producing performances that are far beyond her years.

She top-scored for the match with 25 points on 50 per cent shooting, nailing nine shots on 18 attempts from the field. One of the best parts of her game was the fact that Borlase’s shot selection was extremely unpredictable, and whenever the defence overcompensated in preventing a score inside, she would knock down a shot from outside, and vice versa.

Remarkably, she left some points on the floor, only nailing half of her attempts from the free throw line, going 5/10 from the charity stripe. Although her accuracy was not exactly perfect, it was a good reflection of how much she can put the defence under pressure.

Borlase is one of Australia’s brightest young basketballers with an excellent scoring ability that was on full display on Saturday evening. The Lightning are a much better chance of getting the win if her shots are falling, and that was abundantly clear in the win over Southside to bring Adelaide to a record of 2-2 on the season.