South Spotlight | Tigers Chinese stars again shine at home

Featured image: @xnp_photography

Zitina Aokuso had a huge triple double and Shuyu Yang and Mingling Chen delighted their legion of fans once more as the Melbourne Tigers beat the Frankston Blues 84-61 in front of another sold out home crowd.

The Tigers were back home at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre with a packed house to greet them once more with them attempting to respond from being the first team in 2026 to lose to Geelong United the previous night.

Melbourne took control of the contest against Frankston from the outset with 21 points to 10 in the first quarter and then were up 41-21 by half-time with Yang and Chen combining for 22 of those 41 points.

From there the Tigers remained in control to cruise to the bounce back 23-point victory to sit on a 4-5 record after splitting their weekend double while the Blues lost their two games by a combined 50 points to now sit at 5-5.

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The excitement surrounding the home games for the Tigers in recent weeks has been infectious since the arrival of Mingling Chen and Shuyu Yang, and both gave their supporters plenty to cheer about once more.

Yang caught fire in the third quarter with 13 points on the way to 26 for the game to go with eight assists and two steals on 9/16 field goal shooting with 4/9 from downtown while Chen added 17 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks on 8/13 shooting.

It wasn’t just a two-woman show, though, for the Tigers with Isa Brancatisano also delivering 13 points and three rebounds with Zitina Aokuso then shining with a huge triple double made up of 12 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists to go with four steals in just under 30 minutes.

It capped off a tough weekend for Frankston after the 27-point home loss the night before for them to now sit on a 5-5 record for the season.

The Blues did just end up shooting 35 per cent from the field and 7/14 at the foul line while having 19 turnovers with Lou Brown doing all she could with 15 points, 15 rebounds and three assists.

Emily Monaghan added 14 points and two rebounds, Sianni Martin 17 points and five boards with 5/11 from three-point territory, and Pahlyss Hokianga nine points and two assists.

It was another sold out crowd on hand for the Tigers on a Sunday afternoon and the excitement was brimming inside MSAC and the home team was desperate also to bounce back from the loss the night before.

Melbourne took control in the first quarter to be leading already 21-10 by quarter-time with 50 per cent shooting and going 6/12 at the foul line while Frankston only went 3/16 from the field with their three made shots three-pointers from Emily Monaghan, Lou Brown and Sianni Martin.

The second quarter was time for the crowd to get to see what a lot of them were in the building for with Shuyu Yang and Mingling Chen catching fire.

The Tigers put up 20 points to 13 in the quarter to be leading by half-time 41-23 and both Yang and Chen had 11 points each with the former also having five assists to go with that and the latter three rebounds.

The lead for the Tigers continued to grow from there and got out to as much as 25 points in the second half before they scored the 23-point win and just before the buzzer the stands emptied and the fans flooded courtside in a desperate bid to get within touching distance of their Chinese heroes.

The Tigers will now look to keep their momentum going on the road to the Ballarat Miners next Saturday while the Blues will be back home to host the Waverley Falcons also on Saturday.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 6

MELBOURNE TIGERS 84 (Forster 31, Weir 13, Burton 13)

FRANKSTON BLUES 61 (Beggs 17, Rettstatt 14, Zugna 9)