Abbey goes 'nuts' to carry on NBL1 momentum

Abbey Ellis has taken momentum from her NBL1 South season with the Diamond Valley Eagles with a blistering WNBL start including a stunning 47-point outburst with the Townsville Fire earning the highest praise from her coach in the process.

Ellis had a standout 2026 season in the NBL1 South at Diamond Valley by producing 23.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals a game including a best of 41 points against the Northern Force.

She had two games of 40 or more points and six with 30 or more from her 23 appearances with the Eagles on the way to being named to the All-First Team by the end of the season.

Ellis had also spent some time with the Australian Opals in the off-season so was feeling full of confidence ahead of a third season in the WNBL at the Townsville Fire, and has started their championship defence in remarkable form.

Townsville might be just 1-2 to start the season ahead of Tuesday night's away clash with the Bendigo Spirit, but that one win came in Adelaide last Tuesday where she produced a performance for the ages.

The 25-year-old was incredible playing all 40 minutes of the game in the eventual 86-68 and finishing with 47 points, six steals, four rebounds and two assists on 16/24 shooting from the field, 7/13 from the outside and 8/8 at the foul line.

It was the most points scored by any WNBL player in 21 years and the most ever by a Townsville player, but sharing it with her team is what she cherished most.

"That's actually nuts and I mean obviously it's an amazing feeling, but it's kinda like you have these achievements but you just want to keep on going and getting better," Ellis said.

"Honestly celebrating with your teammates as part of a great team is what makes it special, but it is a pretty cool feeling. There's a lot of hard work and hard hours go into something like this and tonight was just a fun night."

Understandably being pumped

As the shots continued to fall for Ellis during the game, you could see how pumped she was and that the adrenaline was flowing.

She fed off that energy but ultimately what had her the most pumped was that her performance contributed to the Fire winning the game and everything else was just the icing on the cake.

"There's so much energy out there and so much adrenaline going through you at the time, but I think you get pumped just because it's about making big plays in big moments for us to win," Ellis said.

"I think that's the priority for the team is to win and have that winning culture, and we hold ourselves to that expectation.

"But I know everyone is pumped for each other's success so it's a great feeling but it's straight onto the next job to play defence on the way back. Bringing the energy and enthusiasm is a big part of it though."

Being among some all-time greats

The only other players in WNBL history to have 47 points and six steals in a single game are Belinda Snell, Lauren Jackson and Penny Taylor.

The last player to reach 47 points in the WNBL was Jess Bibby playing for the Dandenong Rangers against the Bulleen Boomers in 2005.

That means that only Snell (54 points), Julie Nykiel (53), Taylor (52) and Jackson (48) have scored more than her in a WNBL game and she couldn’t help but pinch herself to now be in that company.

"It's just pretty cool and I think all of us that play WNBL or basketball at any level, we have that joy for it," Ellis said.

"You put all those hours and minutes in and obviously having a game like that, it just puts into perspective that you get to have these feelings on the court and that's your job.

"It was pretty cool and obviously being up there with those amazing names after watching them growing up is pretty cool.

"I remember being at the Veneto Club with the Bulleen Boomers with Michelle Timms and Tom Maher, and watching those games.

"I was always in the bean bags in the corner with my domestic teams so it's pretty cool to know I'm up there with some of those players at least with this game."

Highest of praise from coach

When Shannon Seebohm hands out high praise, it comes from the place of an all-time great WNBL coach given he's now a two-time championship winner and five-time Coach of the Year.

He knew that when he saw Ellis playing at Purdue University that he wanted to coach her in the WNBL, and now in her third season even he is blown away with what she's doing.

"Abbey had one of the best games I've ever seen in the WNBL, just making huge shots and making big plays, and I just said to her afterwards that the thing I was most proud of wasn’t the scoring, but it was how hard she was fighting and defending competing," Seebohm said.

"I think she's probably the best player in the league shooting the three off the dribble and off ball screens, so there was a couple of times she got good looks there and I thought she did the best job I've seen since being in Townsville of turning the corner and getting downhill.

"When you do that as a player and you get to the foul line early and start seeing the ball go in, it starts to loosen you up and a few of her shots were off set plays and things we run, but a lot of it is just individual brilliance as well.

"She's also one of the bravest players I've ever coached and you think back to the two years she was here, she's hit game winning shots, big shots in finals games and has done all these things.

"I'd be lying if I said I thought she'd have a 47-point game year three but she's someone we always saw a lot of potential in and who could fit well into our program, and she's done exactly that."

Giving credit to teammates

As much as Ellis was happy to accept the accolades after her 47-point performance in Adelaide last Tuesday night, she knows she couldn’t do it without the help of her teammates and she focused on her defence first which fuelled what she ended up doing.

"It's a credit to our team because we move the ball really well and find the hot hand, and we have so much depth so each game it allows each player to do their thing," Ellis said.

"But I think what drove that aggression was defence and we really want to be full court, lock down, get a lot of deflections and that was my mentality coming into the game.

"Then once we had control and our offence was flowing a bit better, I had the confidence to put the ball up and see if it would go in."

Developing under another coach at Eagles

While Ellis has developed enormously now over the past two years with Townsville in the WNBL and with her time with the Opals including winning the Asia Cup last year, Diamond Valley has played a big part in her growth too.

A key part of that is the coaching of Dee Butler and Ellis has learned an enormous amount from her and playing under another former point guard is something that she thinks has been significant for her.

"Myself and Dee have a strong relationship being with each other for three years and so she has the belief in me and my offensive abilities to play make for her team," Ellis said.

"We have a selfless team who love to move the ball which allows me to shoot threes and attack gaps in defence.

"We have shot making ability across all positions which allows me to set up many plays, targeting certain players, and put my teammates in best position to score.

"Dee is a past PG herself and I’m always learning from her, she has allowed me to make mistakes, learn and develop not only my basketball skills but my IQ and leadership on the court."