Isobel Borlase (born 12 September 2004) is an Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Joh ...

of the

NBL1 South NBL1 South is a semi-professional basketball league in Victoria (state), Victoria and Tasmania, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (Australia), ...

. She is also contracted with the

Bendigo Spirit The Bendigo Spirit are an Australian professional basketball team based in Bendigo, Victoria. The Spirit play in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Bendigo Stadium, Red Energy Arena. The team debuted in the ...

of the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the Women's sports, women's counterpart to the Na ...

(WNBL). She debuted for the

Adelaide Lightning The Adelaide Lightning are an Australian professional basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The club is based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia, and will play their home games at the State Basketball ...

of the WNBL in 2022, and in 2023 won the WNBL Sixth Woman of the Year and WNBL Breakout Player of the Year. In 2024, she was named to the All-WNBL First Team and was drafted 20th overall by the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Dream compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded for the ...

in the

WNBA draft The WNBA draft is an annual draft (sports), draft held by the Women's National Basketball Association, WNBA through which WNBA teams can select new players from a talent pool of college and List of WNBA players, professional women's basketball p ...

. Borlase helped the Australian Gems win silver at the 2021 FIBA Under-19 World Cup and gold at the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship.

Early life and career

Borlase was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, in the suburb of

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...

. She grew up in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, where she attended Loreto College and Mercedes College. She played junior basketball for the

Forestville Eagles Forestville Eagles is a NBL1 Central club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching Forestville Eagles Basketball Club (FEBC), the major administrative basketball ...

and led South Australia Metro to victory at the 2021 Australian Under-18 Championships. She also played

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

and did

surf lifesaving Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted social movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries, in ...

. Borlase joined the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence in 2021, where she played in four games in the

Waratah League NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an intern ...

. While in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, she attended

Lake Ginninderra College University of Canberra Senior Secondary College Lake Ginninderra, formerly known as Lake Ginninderra College until 2011, is a public secondary college for students in Years 11 and 12. It is located in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia, ...

Professional career

In January 2022, Borlase joined the

of the

(WNBL) for the rest of the 2021–22 season. She appeared in one game. With the Centre of Excellence in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

in the

NBL1 The NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball league in Australia run by the National Basketball League (NBL). The league consists of five conferences: NBL1 South, NBL1 North, NBL1 Central, NBL1 West and NBL1 East, with each consisting of bot ...

, Borlase averaged 13.57 points, 5.29 rebounds, 2.64 assists and 2.0 steals in 14 games. In September 2022, Borlase re-signed the Adelaide Lightning for the

2022–23 WNBL season The 2022–23 WNBL season is the 43rd season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Melbourne Boomers were the defending champions, but were defeated in the Semi-Finals by Southside. The Townsville Fire won their fourth champion ...

. In the season opener, she had 25 points and nine rebounds in a loss to the

Southside Flyers The Southside Flyers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Flyers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at the State Basketball Centre. For sponsorship pur ...

. She finished the season averaging 13.5 points per game. She was subsequently named WNBL Sixth Woman of the Year and WNBL Breakout Player of the Year. Borlase joined the

of the

NBL1 Central NBL1 Central, formerly the Premier League, is a semi-professional basketball league in South Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball South Australia partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to ...

for the 2023 season, but appeared in only two games. A back injury limited her during the 2023 off-season. In May 2023, Borlase re-signed the Adelaide Lightning for the

2023–24 WNBL season The 2023–24 WNBL season is the 44th season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Townsville Fire were the defending champions, but were defeated in the Semi-Finals by Perth. The Southside Flyers won their fifth championship ti ...

. She entered WNBA draft pick discussions in her second full season, and with team captain

Stephanie Talbot Stephanie Talbot (born 15 June 1994) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for the Adelaide Lightning of the Women's National Basketball League (W ...

sidelined, she began shouldering more responsibility. On 7 January 2024, she scored a career-high 31 points in an 84–68 loss to the

Perth Lynx The Perth Lynx are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at both WA Basketball Centre, Bendat Basketball Centre ...

. She was named to the All-WNBL First Team after averaging 15.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. On 15 April 2024, Borlase was selected by the

with the 20th overall pick in the

2024 WNBA draft The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s draft for the 2024 WNBA season, 2024 season, following the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, was held on April 15, 2024, the WNBA draft, 29th draft in WNBA history. The draf ...

. Choosing to remain in Adelaide for another 12 months, Borlase joined the Forestville Eagles for the 2024 NBL1 Central season. In six games for the Eagles, she averaged 15.33 points, 5.33 rebounds, 3.17 assists and 2.33 steals per game. Borlase returned to the Adelaide Lightning for the

2024–25 WNBL season The 2024–25 WNBL season was the 45th season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Southside Flyers were the defending champions, but they failed to qualify for Finals this season. The Bendigo Spirit won their third champions ...

. She averaged 14.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Borlase joined the

of the

for the 2025 season. On 5 June 2025, Borlase signed with the

for the 2025–26 WNBL season.

National team career

Borlase debuted for Australia at the 2021 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Hungary with the Gems. She helped the Gems win the silver medal. In 2022, Borlase helped the Gems win the gold medal at the FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship in India. She was named to the All-Star Five after averaging 14.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.8 steals per game. Borlase played for the Gems at the 2023 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Spain. In July 2024, Borlase was named in the

Australian Opals The Australia women's national basketball team, nicknamed the Opals after the brightly coloured gemstone common to the country, represents Australia in international basketball. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive ...

' final squad for the Paris Olympics. She helped the Opals win the bronze medal. In April 2025, Borlase was named in the Opals squad for a trans-Tasman series against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in May. She was subsequently selected for the Opals' final squad for the

2025 FIBA Women's Asia Cup The 2025 FIBA Women's Asia Cup is the 31st edition of the tournament, held from 13 to 20 July 2025 in Shenzhen, China. The top six teams will qualify for the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournaments, qualifying tournaments of ...

in China.

Personal life

Borlase is the daughter of Darryl Borlase and

Jenny Borlase Jenny Borlase , also known as Jenny Kennett, is a former Australia netball international. Between 1989 and 1999 she made 70 senior appearances for Australia. She was a member of the Australia teams that won gold medals at the 1991, 1995 and 19 ...

. Her father played Australian rules football for the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

while her mother played for the

Australian netball team The Australia national netball team, also known as the Australian Diamonds, represent Netball Australia in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Constellation Cup, the Netball Quad Series ...

. Her older sister, Ella, has represented Australia in

surfboat A surfboat (or surf boat) is an oar-driven boat designed to enter the ocean from the beach in heavy surf or severe waves. It is often used in lifesaving or rescue missions where the most expedient access to victims is directly from the beach. ...

rowing while her older brother,

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

, is also a footballer who made his AFL debut in 2023 with the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

References

External links

NBL1 profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borlase, Isobel 2004 births Living people Adelaide Lightning players Atlanta Dream draft picks Australian women's basketball players Basketball players from South Australia Guards (basketball) Sportswomen from South Australia Basketball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players for Australia Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in basketball 21st-century Australian sportswomen