NEWCASTLE Hunters sharp-shooter Katie Ebzery, right, hopes her return to the Women's National Basketball League this season will help her break into the Australian Opals squad.
The 20-year-old former Australian junior representative will join fellow Hunters product Mikaela Dombkins at the Sydney Uni Flames, but Newcastle Olympian Suzy Batkovic-Brown has left the harbour city to join reigning WNBL champions Canberra.
Ebzery relocated to Sydney last weekend to be ready for pre-season training, which starts on Monday. The WNBL season tips off in October.
After playing three WNBL seasons for the Australian Institute of Sport from 2005 to 2008, Ebzery joined Dandenong in 2008-09 then took a break last summer to recharge her batteries.
"I've been in contact with Peter Lonergan, one of the assistant coaches at the Flames, and he asked me what I was up to and whether I'd be interested in playing for them, so that's how it all happened and I signed the contract not very long ago," Ebzery explained yesterday.
"I feel much more refreshed so I think having that year off did me a lot of good, and I'm really looking forward to this season and playing with the Flames."
Coached by long-serving former Australian Opals representative Karen Dalton, the Flames reached the WNBL top four last season and are perennial contenders, having won three titles from 11 grand final appearances since 1993.
"The Sydney girls made the semi-finals last year and have only lost Suzy from that squad so they'll definitely be strong contenders again this year, and I'm just looking to make my place in the team and earn my way," Ebzery said.
"If I'm playing well enough, hopefully I can keep going with that and the Opals is definitely a goal in the future."
Ebzery has played 31 international matches for Australian junior teams.
She averaged nine points and 2.3 rebounds a game for the Gems at the 2007 junior world championships in Slovakia, and represented her country at the 2006 Oceania youth tournament.
The 178-centimetre guard was the Australian under-21 player of the year in the Waratah Australian Basketball League last season and was named in the WABL All-Star Five.
Averaging 20.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists a game this year, Ebzery will be back at Broadmeadow on Saturday to help the Hunters try to secure a play-off berth.
Newcastle are seventh with a 6-9 win-loss record but should sneak into the top six if they beat Norths (0-15).
In Women's National Basketball Association news, Australia's Lauren Jackson scored a season-high 33 points to help Seattle Storm beat Phoenix Mercury 91-85 on Tuesday and clinch the top seed in the Western Conference.
Sue Bird added 16 points and Tanisha Wright 14 for Seattle (21-2), who won their 12th consecutive game. The Storm are 12-0 at home and 16-0 in conference play.
Diana Taurasi scored 27 and DeWanna Bonner 19 to lead Phoenix (10-13), which had won three in a row. The second-placed Mercury dropped 11 games behind the Storm.
The Mercury briefly regained the lead before three-pointers by Wright and Jackson helped give the Storm a 77-68 lead with 5:18 left and cap a 33-7 run from midway through the third quarter.
Taurasi scored 16, Bonner 12 and Temeka Johnson 11 to help the Mercury to a 56-38 half-time lead.
At Uncasville, Connecticut, Asjha Jones scored 10 of her season-high 23 points in the fourth period as Connecticut snapped a two-game losing streak with an 88-78 win over Washington.
Tamika Catchings (16 points and 10 rebounds led Indiana to a 78-74 win over Chicago, the Fever's fifth straight victory. And in New York, the home team scored a 77-72 win over San Antonio.
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