Arabic version: إيليس تسجل 47 نقطة فيما تهزم تاونسفيل أديلايد

According to ABC News, Abbey Ellis scored 47 points as the Townsville Fire defeated Adelaide 86-68 away in the WNBL. The defending champions recovered after trailing 35-21 in the second quarter and outscored Adelaide 27-10 in the final term. Townsville moved to 1-1, while Adelaide fell to 0-2.

Ellis scored 25 of Townsville’s first 33 points and all 16 of the team’s first points in the second quarter. Her 47-point total set a club individual scoring record, surpassing Chandi Jones’s 45 points in 2005. The haul was equal fifth-highest in WNBL history and the largest individual score in the competition for 21 years.

She made 16 of 24 field-goal attempts and seven of 13 three-point attempts, adding six steals. Ellis joined Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor and Belinda Snell as the only players to record 47 points and six steals in a game. “It’s a pretty cool feeling,” Ellis said, crediting Townsville for moving the ball and finding “the hot hand”.

Townsville was seven points behind at quarter-time but finished the second quarter with seven unanswered points to trail by three at half-time. Courtney Woods scored 14 points and Marie Gulich added 13, while Alicia Froling collected 11 rebounds and Alexandra Fowler had 10. Adelaide’s field-goal percentage dropped from 62 per cent at half-time to 45 per cent by the end. Tayla Brazel scored a personal WNBL career-high 19 points, while Shay Ciezki had 13, Zitina Aokuso 12, and Steph Talbot 11 points and nine assists.

Townsville coach Shannon Seebohm praised Ellis’s shooting, plays and defence, calling her one of the bravest players he had coached. The second round of the WNBL season begins tomorrow, when Southside Melbourne Flyers play Tasmania Jewels.