ELISSA Brett led the Ipswich Force to a thrilling win in the opening round of the 2025 NBL1 North Women’s season, holding off a late charge by the Ipswich Force to run out six-point winners last night.

Thursday night’s clash at Carrara Indoor Sports Stadium marked the first clash of the fixture, and gave both sides the opportunity to grab top spot in the standings early. With plenty of player retention from the two teams, it was always looming as an exciting way to kick off the competition for 2025.

Although the Force had edged their noses in front by the main break, it was still certainly game on heading into the second half. However, Ipswich outscored the home side 28-14 in the third quarter, and although it was a barnstorming finish from the Rollers, they still fell just short of a victory as the Force took out the season opener.

Brett was the star of the show for the Force, leading from the front on the offensive end and setting up the win with her excellent scoring performance.

Gold Coast Rollers (73) def. by Ipswich Force (79)

Elissa Brett – 24 points, nine rebounds, one steal

The most impactful scorer of the entire match, Brett could not have started the season any better for the Force, nailing some crucial shots and playing an instrumental role in the result of the game.

She started the game with some nice work on the glass, before recording her first field goal of the match with a nice pull up jumpshot in the first couple of minutes of the contest. She steadied off the catch to nail her first triple midway through the term, before splashing home a stepback shot from behind the arc to get off to a fantastic start.

Brett continued to impress in the first quarter, pulling up from midrange to keep her and Ipswich’s hot start rolling. A third triple for the quarter capped off a remarkable start to the game for the elite scorer, who already had 14 points to her name at the first break.

Although increased defensive attention saw Brett produce a slightly less efficient performance in the second quarter, she still got involved with a nice driving layup in transition, before drawing contact and converting at the charity stripe to ensure the Force were still in the box seat at half time.

She showed plenty of desire to find the bottom of the net, following up a missed shot and tipping the ball back into the hoop, in what proved to be a highlight play of the third quarter. Brett did have just the one made field goal in the fourth quarter, but she had already set up the victory with her excellent start to the contest.

In the end, Brett finished with 24 points on 9/19 shooting from the field, also nearly posting a double-double with nine rebounds, and she will be hoping to continue that level of form moving forward.