The Australian women came out with force on the opening day of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Sunday in Shenzhen, China.
In a 76-point blowout, Australia beat the Philippines 115-39 in Group B play.
Shooting guards Miela Goodchild (19 points) and Courtney Michelle Woods (11 points), power forward Sara Blicavs (17 points) and forward Alexandra Fowler (11 points) led Australia in scoring. But of course, it isn’t all about scoring.
Former Purdue Boilermaker Abbey Ellis is tied for the tournament-high in assists with point guard and teammate Stephanie Reid after both recorded nine assists in Sunday’s match.
Stuffing the stats at Asia Cup 📊@_abbeyellis tallied 8 points, 9 assists and 3 rebounds in @BasketballAus's 76-point win over the Philippines! pic.twitter.com/9xMVj1stF6
— Purdue Women's Basketball (@PurdueWBB) July 13, 2025
In addition to those assists, the shooting guard tallied eight points, three rebounds, two steals and one block against the Philippines. Ellis shot with 100% accuracy on both 2-point field goals (2) and free throws (4), but missed her one attempt from beyond the arc.
It was a strong breakout performance for Ellis, who was only added to the Australian team last week after guard Maddy Rocci was ruled out due to injury.
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Ellis’ debut this season in Australia’s Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) earned her 2024-25 Breakout Player of the Year honors in her rookie year. The shooting guard averaged 9.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game for the Townsville Fire. She shot 40.6% from the floor and 35.1% from 3-point range.
The Australian spent her first two NCAA seasons (2019-2021) at Cal Poly before transferring to Purdue, where she opted to take a fifth year of eligibility and played three seasons as a Boilermaker until graduating in 2024. At Cal Poly, the shooting guard started 53 of 54 games played and averaged 15.5 points per contest. As a fifth-year senior at Purdue, Ellis averaged 14.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
Ellis and the Australians will face Lebanon Monday at 4:30 a.m. ET.