Borlase hoping to add championship success to MVP triumph

NEWLY crowned Suzy Batkovic Medal winner Izzy Borlase says she won’t let individual success get in the way of her pursuit of WNBL championship success.

The 21-year-old became the second Bendigo Spirit player in the last two seasons to claim the league most valuable player award with a runaway victory on Monday night.

Borlase, playing her first season in Bendigo, topped the voting on 99 votes, well clear of star Perth Lynx forward Anneli Maley on 58 and Townsville Fire’s Courtney Woods (52).

Maley previously won the MVP award as a Spirit player in 2021-22.

Geelong Venom import Mackenzie Holmes (29) and Spirit captain Kelsey Griffin (25) rounded out the top five in voting.

Heavily touted as the MVP favourite during the final weeks of the regular season, Borlase was relieved to get the league’s awards night out of the way, so she could concentrate on what she said she came to Bendigo to achieve – a WNBL championship.

“I’m kind of happy the night’s over. It was probably taking too much of my headspace than I probably would have liked, (but) now it’s all over,” Borlase said before training in Bendigo on Tuesday.

“It’s why I came here … I didn’t come here to win an award, I came here to win a championship with the Spirit and we are putting ourselves in a position to do that.”

The Spirit, who are the WNBL’s defending champions, will launch their 2025-26 finals campaign against Perth Lynx in Perth this Saturday at 4pm (Bendigo time).

Game two will follow in Bendigo on Tuesday at 7pm.

 

A day after her MVP win and selection in the All-WNBL First Team, Borlase admitted the honour was still sinking in.

“Every athlete dreams about achieving the best and being one of the best of the best; I’ve definitely thought about those things, but I definitely didn’t think it would be this year,” she said.

“I absolutely didn’t come into the season with the thought I wanted to be MVP, I just wanted to come to Bendigo, fit in, build my game.

“That’s probably half the reason why it has been a success; I have tried not to put too much expectation on myself to be anything too special.”

As far as transitions into a new team go, the Opals star felt her move to Bendigo had gone pretty seamlessly, without a doubt aided by a well-run club and fantastic club culture.

“What they did last year (winning the championship), there was no surprise they did what they did with the people involved,” Borlase said.

“Under coach (Kennedy Kereama), under the leadership group, GM … everyone involved in the club is the reason why it’s successful.

“I’m not surprised I felt so comfortable so quickly; they’ve got great leadership.

“Every club needs a great leader and there’s no better one than KG (Griffin).”

That was again reflected on awards night, with Griffin earning All-WNBL Second Team honours and Kereama going back-to-back as coach of the year.

In a season in which she dominated from game one, Borlase topped all players in the league with 22.87 points per game.

She also led the league in free throws (5.04 per game) and averaged 3.7 assists per game and 6.22 rebounds, while shooting 45.6 from the field and 90.7 from the free-throw line.

Borlase totalled more than 30 points per game three times during the season, including a memorable season-high and WNBL career-high 42 points in a January win over Southside Melbourne Flyers at Selkirk Stadium in Ballarat.

It’s said that success is rarely accidental, resulting instead from consistent, dedicated hard work and perseverance over time.

Borlase is no exception, speaking candidly about her dedication to working on her game and fitness, both pre and during the season.

“Rewards don’t come unless you put the work in and believe that the work you are doing is the work’s that needed,” she said.

“Whenever I can I try to get extra shots up and I try to look after myself in the gym, lifting a couple of times a week and then recovery.

“Everything I do off the court kind of makes me feel confident in what I can do on the court.”

Borlase became just the fifth player aged 21 or under to claim the MVP award, joining elite company in Allison Cook, Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor and Liz Cambage.

The Melbourne-born guard praised the support and guidance of her Spirit mentors Griffin and Marianna Tolo, who despite her season coming to an end early due to pregnancy, remained an important presence around the team.

“Those two are why the club is the way it is. Having two of the most experienced players on our team, who have won it (the championship) five times,” she said.

“I feel when I was a bit younger experience is like whatever, but you can’t buy experience in what they’ve lived and done for this club.

“We wouldn’t be in the position we are without what they do and it’s unseen.

“At practices, KG wears so many hats and Tolo just supports that perfectly.”

Drafted by the Atlanta Dream with pick number 20 in the 2024 WNBA draft and expected to make that leap sooner rather than later, Borlase is no stranger to awards success in the WNBL.

In 2023 she won the league’s sixth woman of the year and breakout player of the year awards, while she was named in the All-WNBL First Team for the inaugural time in 2023-24.

Turning her attention to this weekend, Borlase is backing the Spirit to rebound from three straight losses to end the regular season, one of which was an 88-64 defeat against the Lynx in Bendigo on 1 February.

“It’s not ideal,” she said of the trio of losses.

“But we do trust the work we have put in during the whole season.

“We went through a period of time when we were on a roll, but every team has a little lapse in the season.

“It gets a bit funny towards the end of the season where perhaps people are thinking about the finals before we are actually there.

“We’re a very young group, so it’s a new experience for all of us, but we are all ready to take it on.”

Borlase became the fourth Spirit player to claim the MVP award, joining Kristi Harrower (2009-10), Maley (2021-22) and Sami Whitcomb (2024-25) on the honour roll.