Every week, ESPN's Megan Hustwaite brings together the stories that have caught her eye across the WNBL.
Downtown Abbey
Abbey Ellis has been dubbed Ellis the Entertainer after her scoring bonanza which broke a 21-year-old record on Tuesday night.
The Fire point guard drained 47 points, including seven threes, against Adelaide in the biggest haul by a player since 2005 when Belinda Snell set the league record with 54 against West Coast. Ellis moved into equal fifth alongside Jess Bibby (2005) and Julie Nykiel (1986).
"The way Abbey plays - she's undersized, aggressive, up tempo, plays within the Townsville system but understands there's an entertainment factor to playing at this level," Bibby told WNBL Weekly.
"Even when she's not dropping 47, there wouldn't be anyone sitting back and not paying attention when the ball's in her hand. She had six steals as well, she's active on defence, disruptive and that's just as exciting on a defensive end as being in that magical zone that not many people find themselves in where the ring looks like a hoola hoop but you get your just desserts when you play that dogged defence.
"She's always that spark people go to watch. She plays the way people remember, she's fun. Really fun to watch."
Ellis' also broke the club record, eclipsing import Chandi Jones' 45 points also in 2005.
When Jones went off against Adelaide on January 14, 2005, she only had hours to celebrate before Bibby outdid her by two points. 26-years-old at the time, Bibby put up 47 in just 28 minutes, in what was her 150th game, with coach Gary Fox sitting her for much of the last quarter.
Despite their hauls, neither were awarded Player of the Week - that went to Laura Hodges for back-to-back 30-point games. Ironically, Hodges was courtside and interviewed Ellis on Tuesday night.
The following week, Snell set the record against West Coast. Ellis is now the player with the most points in 21 years.
Wilson on way back
Medal-winning Opal and Gangurru Ally Wilson is hopeful of making her season debut in a blockbuster Round 2 that awaits Sydney.
The 32-year-old hurt her groin during a pool game against Belgium at September's World Cup in Germany, a scan back home revealed a grade 2 adductor tear and a 4-6 week diagnosis. She trained with the Flames for the first time last week and was set to play the second leg of Sydney's Round 1 double but her knee flared up forcing her to watch on as Sydney banked a pair of wins.
The Flames are away to the Caps on Friday night then head to Townsville to face the Fire on Sunday.
"Five weeks took us to exactly Round 1 so I was going to be touch and go. My first week back training fully was last week, my groin was good but my knee pulled up a little sore from the training week, the spike in my load. So, it's been my groin and my knee got a little bit grumpy," Wilson told ESPN.
"We'll see how I get through training on Wednesday and Thursday and if everything pulls up good I'll hopefully play on Friday against Canberra."
Heal off to a Flyer
Fresh from an impressive debut, Tess Heal will test herself against established opponents Steph Reid and Maddy Rocci this round.
The Flyers point guard, fresh out of college where she played for Santa Clara, Stanford, then Kansas State, put up 24 points in her team's opener against Sydney and is embracing the challenge coming her way in the form the Jewels on Thursday night then Venom on Saturday.
"Maddy and Steph are excellent point guards with great resumes but I also think hard work and effort can often match up to that talent. I'm ready to give it a go, it's a good benchmark for me. Obviously if they come out and kick my butt I know I've got a lot to work on and if I'm right there then that's a confidence boost to keep going," Heal said.
"I've always looked up to Sami Whitcomb, love watching her. I love watching Steph, she's so crafty, and one of the best point guards in Australia - I don't want to sing her praises too much considering we play on Thursday. Jade (Melbourne) is only a couple of years older, what she's done in the WNBA carving out a role for herself and the way she's developed since we played each other in NBL1 three or four years ago speaks massively to how hard she works, improves and adapts to the game."
Courtside for Heal's WNBL debut were her biggest fans, grandparents Tom and Wendy. Tom is particularly enjoying Heal's homecoming as he would get up at all hours of the night to watch each of her college games live.
MJ Thrills Lynx
The Lynx had a special guest moonwalk into practice on Monday following their Round 1 Thriller over Townsville.
A local Michael Jackson impersonator put on a 30-minute show featuring all the big hits and a few costume changes for good measure.
The idea stemmed from a Tik Tok video where an impersonator showed up to an office building and was cooked up during a trivia night outing between a few players last week. Thankfully, it was a festive day at the office after defeating the Fire who beat them in last season's Grand Final.
Georgia Amoore, moving like a Smooth Criminal, and Chloe Hodges got up for a dance lesson to Beat It. Coach Ryan Petrik had his head in his hands at times during the impromptu concert, thinking it was Bad, which is only Human Nature.
OPALS WATCH - The Opals who shone in Round 1
Abbey Ellis (Fire) 47 points, 6 steals, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block vs. Adelaide
Maddy Rocci (Venom) 33 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal vs. Tasmania
Amy Atwell (Caps) 26 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists vs. Bendigo
Courtney Woods (Fire) 20 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal vs. Perth and 14 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals vs. Adelaide
Steph Reid (Jewels) 17 points, 8 assists, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, 1 block vs. Geelong
Zitina Aokuso (Lightning) 12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist vs. Sydney and 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block vs. Townsville
Issie Bourne (Flames) 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal vs. Adelaide and 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks vs. Southside
Steph Talbot (Lightning) 11 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals vs. Townsville
Alex Fowler (Fire) 10 rebounds, 8 points, 6 assists 1 steal vs Adelaide