North Spotlight | Payne sparks Wizards to three straight

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Nadeen Payne was on fire in the first half and the Northside Wizards kept their hot NBL1 North form going with the 107-76 Sunday road victory against the Ipswich Force.

Both teams were playing their only game of Round 9 in the NBL1 North with the Force at home at Ipswich Basketball Stadium trying to snap a four-game losing slide with the Wizards arriving having won their past couple.

The Wizards opened up a 16-point lead already in the first quarter and were up by 18 at half-time with Payne already having 20 points to her name.

That lead continued to grow for Northside getting out to 31 points in the third frame and 34 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 31-point victory.

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The result makes it three straight wins for the Wizards with a 6-4 record while the Force have now lost their past five to now sit at 2-8.

Northside ended up shooting 51 per cent for the game to the 43 from Ipswich while also pulling down 12 offensive rebounds to six, and forcing the Force into 18 turnovers while having just nine themselves to take the 15 extra shots in the 31-point victory.

Payne ended up top scoring for the Wizards with 23 points and three rebounds on 8/12 shooting from the floor and 6/6 at the free-throw line.

Kelsey Ransom also had 21 points, five assists and three rebounds, Grace Ellis 18 points, 12 boards and three assists, Nes'eya Parker-Williams 17 points, eight rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks, and Georgia Puruto 10 points on 3/4 shooting from the floor and 4/4 at the free-throw line.

Hannah Young ended up with 15 points, five rebounds and two assists for Ipswich on 3/4 three-point shooting with Valerie Huerta contributing 14 points, five boards and four assists, Olivia West 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, and Natasha Elliott nine points, three boards and two assists.

Both teams were making their lone appearance of the weekend and it was the Wizards who made the flying start with 30 points to 22 in the first quarter on the back of scoring 11 straight points.

Nadeen Payne already had nine points and Grace Ellis eight with the Wizards shooting 55 per cent but the Force were also going at 56 per cent from the field to stay in touch including Valerie Huerta having 11 points while hitting all five of her shot attempts.

Northside kept their momentum rolling in the second quarter with another 27 points including 11 more to Payne while shooting 9/18 as a team with 7/7 free throws to the 17 points on 6/20 shooting from Ipswich.

That saw the Wizards leading 57-39 by half-time with Payne up to 20 points on 7/9 shooting from the field and 5/5 at the free-throw line.

It was another 27 points to 14 in the third quarter from the Wizards with the lead growing to as much as 31 points and then it got out to 34 in the final term before Northside secured the 31-point victory for a third straight on the season.

The Wizards will look to keep their momentum going next Sunday at home to the Gold Coast Rollers while Ipswich will attempt to bounce back on the road to the Southern Districts Spartans on Saturday night.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 9

IPSWICH FORCE 76 (Young 15, Huerta 14, West 11)

NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 107 (Payne 23, Ransom 21, Ellis 18)