IN a match where plenty of Rockingham Flames players stood out in the thumping win over the South West Slammers, it was Tayah Burrows that stood above the rest in the NBL1 West Women’s on the weekend.

The Slammers hosted the Flames at the Eaton Rec Centre on Friday night, but were always going to be up against it given the form each side has been in. Rockingham looms as one of the contending sides for the 2023 season with a spot in the top four after 12 rounds, while the home side was still looking for its first win of the fixture.

The Flames made the most of the favourable match-up, putting the opposition to the sword from the opening quarter, where they outscored the opposition by 22 in a blistering start to the contest. That trend continued over the remainder of the match, with the minimum margin for a quarter still sitting at a whopping 18 points in favour of the visitors. In the end, the Flames soared to a whopping 78-point win.

Although there were plenty of big individual performances in Rockingham’s win, but Burrows put her hand up as the strongest showing with a damaging outing on the road.

South West Slammers (51) def. by Rockingham Flames (129)

Tayla Burrows – 16 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, six steals

Burrows was everywhere for the Flames, constantly hurting the opposition with her ability to perform on both ends of the court.

She was everywhere as the Flames scored the first 20 points of the game, leading from the front as her side took full control of the match in the opening minutes of the contest.

Although there were players who scored more than the 21-year-old, Burrows was able to put together an accurate shooting performance. She nailed five of her nine attempts from the field, showing smarts when putting up a shot and finding holes in the opposition’s defensive structures.

She used her five-foot-11 frame to pull down a game-high 11 rebounds, feasting on the Slammers’ misses on the defensive end, while also working hard down the other end to pull down six of her boards after Rockingham misses.

Speaking of game-high figures, there was no more impactful playmaker than Burrows, who finished the match with 12 dimes. She took full advantage of the splintered South West defence, and sliced her way past the opposition to find wide-open teammates, who found the bottom of the net more often than not.

Despite producing such solid numbers on the offensive end, Burrows still impacted the game defensively, recording a whopping six steals. The Slammers were careless with their passes upcourt, and Burrows’ reflexes allowed her to pick off sloppy ball movement from the opposition and create more scoring opportunities.

In a match where her team completely outclassed the opposition, it was Burrows who led from the front, and should continue to post similar numbers with plenty of basketball ahead of her. Triple-doubles are extremely hard to come by for even the most experienced of veterans, but the Flames gun made it look easy as she showed exactly how versatile her game is.