Basketball On The Internet.

BENDIGO Spirit guard and Paris Olympian Isobel Borlase tonight added to her growing list of accolades when she won the WNBL's Suzy Batkovic Most Valuable Player award. In the process she joined Kristi Harrower (2010), Anneli Maley (2022) and Sami Whitcomb (2025) as only the club's fourth league MVP recipient.

Borlase, just 21, led the league in scoring with 22.9 points per game, also averaging 6.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 90.7 per cent from the free throw line and shot the ball at 45.6 per cent from the floor.

She had the season single game high with her 42 points against Southside Flyers in Round 15, making her just the 11th player since the WNBL launched in 1981 to compile 42 points or more and the first since Australian basketball legend Penny Taylor had 42 for Dandenong in 2002. Like Borlase, Taylor also was named MVP that season.

Borlase also was selected in the All-WNBL First Team along with Townsville's Courtney Woods, Perth pair Alex Wilson and Anneli Maley, and Geelong's import centre Mackenzie Holmes.

The All-WNBL Second Team had two further Lynx players in Alex Ciabattoni and Han Xu, the Fire's Miela Sowah, Bendigo champion Kelsey Griffin and Southside veteran Cayla George.

Han Xu also won the Robyn Maher Best Defensive Player award, Townsville's Lucy Olsen claiming Best Sixth Woman honours.

Adelaide Lightning playmaker Dallas Loughridge won the Betty Watson Breakout Player of the Year award, Courtney Woods the Golden Hands and Southside's Nya Lok the Community award.

Finally recognised for the excellent work he did in keeping defending champion Bendigo in the championship hunt despite losing Marianna Tolo to pregnancy and Casey Samuels for most of the season, Kennedy Kereama was recognised as the WNBL's Coach of the Year.

It should have been back-to-back wins for Kereama but that's water under the bridge, the WNBL this year exemplary in its award selections, none of the winners subject to any criticism.

The popular and hard-working Maley won the Fans MVP vote and Daniel Battye was named Referee of the Year but, as they say in the classics, that wasn't my call.