DESPITE the Sandringham Sabres falling to the Waverley Falcons in the National Basketball League (NBL)1 South Women’s on the weekend, it is hard to fault the performance of Brittany Smart. The U.S import was the most dominant player on the court when the two sides locked horns at Southern Basketball Stadium on Saturday evening.

Although her side was on the end of a nine-point loss, Smart did just about all she could to ensure the Sabres were still in the contest. However, Sandringham found itself overrun in the final term, as the Falcons stormed home to claim an 89-80 victory, their seventh of season 2022.

Smart was outstanding with ball in hand, somehow always able to create a shot where few could. She finished with a whopping 40 points, doing all she could to get Sandringham over the line. However, the sheer number of contributors for the Falcons proved too much, with Smart essentially a one-woman show for much of the contest. Despite, the final result, her endeavour and execution cannot be faulted, in what was an eye-catching offensive performance.

Brittany Smart vs. Waverley – 40 points (14/25 FG), five rebounds, two steals

There was no player more dangerous with ball in hand on Saturday evening, with Smart looking to expose the opposition defence whenever she could. Accuracy was no problem, making over half of her attempts from the field, which is impressive given the number of shots she took.

Smart’s scoring came from a number of sources, as she showed how deep her bag truly is on the offensive end. Inside the three-point line, she nailed seven of her 11 attempts, whether they were explosive drives into the paint or smooth mid-range jumpers. Smart often took advantage of the defence’s overcommitment when she caught the ball at the perimeter, and punished the Falcons accordingly.

From downtown, she was also able to find her rhythm, with 21 of her 40 points coming from behind the arc. Seven threes saw her as the most deadly shooter on the court, and the Waverley defenders were soon forced to make adjustments on the fly. Smart showed the ability to nail buckets off the dribble or from a catch-and-shoot situation. Regardless of how she conjured her buckets, it seemed to work.

To top it all off, she was flawless at the free throw line, often hurting the opposition’s sloppy defence. At the charity stripe, she went five from five, despite the exhaustion that must have come from carrying her side’s offensive load.