Melbourne Boomers forward Ashleigh Karaitiana has identified the team’s WNBA champion Ezi Magbegor as the key to beating the in-form Adelaide Lightning on Tuesday night.
After starting the season on fire with wins over Liz Cambage’s Southside Flyers and Perth, the Boomers have slumped to consecutive losses.
Melbourne will look to steady their season when they take on an Adelaide side who will be playing its first game since being forced into six days of quarantine last week following the COVID-19 outbreak in South Australia.
Watch a live stream of the game in the video player above with tip-off scheduled for 5pm local (6pm AEDT)
Karaitiana is expecting a tough clash against the Lightning, but she has full faith in Magbegor to lift the Boomers.
“Ezi is a major key to our team,” Karaitiana said about Magbegor, who won the 2020 WNBA championship with the Seattle Storm.
“She is so gifted and so athletic- it just amazes me.
“This is the first season I’ve played with her, and for someone so young and talented, she is the most humble player I’ve ever played with.
“It is amazing to see her work and when she wants to be, she is unstoppable.
“The energy she brings at both ends of the floor is massive.”
Karaitiana knows Adelaide will come out firing after being stuck in quarantine for almost a week, but she stressed the Boomers must worry about themselves.
“They (the Lightning) will definitely come out strongly, but we have a lot to focus on ourselves.
“We haven’t played as well as we did since beating the Flyers, so once we take care of our game the rest will just flow.”