FORMER Coffs Harbour Suns junior Kristy Wallace has represented her country in a major international tournament in Europe.

The 26-year-old was part of the Australian Opals team who took part in a recent FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 Qualifying Tournament in Serbia.

Wallace was part of an Opals team who took on the likes of Brazil, Korea, and host nation Serbia as they prepared for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 to be held in Sydney later this year.

As the host nation, Australia has already qualified automatically for the World Cup but still took part in the recent qualifying tournament in Belgrade.

Wallace played in two of the Opals three games in Belgrade, with her best game coming against Korea where she registered five assists and four rebounds in twelve minutes during the Opals 79-61 win.

Wallace made her Opals debut last year as part of Australia’s bronze medal winning team at the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in Jordan.

The point guard has been playing for the Melbourne-based Southside Flyers in the current WNBL season, where she has been a spark off the bench for the Flyers averaging 9.4 points at an efficient 50 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from three-point range.

It’s been a comeback for the ages for the former Coffs Harbour Suns junior, who suffered her first ACL injury in the final year of a stellar college career at Baylor University, which saw her drafted by the Atlanta Dream in the 2018 WNBA draft.

A lengthy rehabilitation process saw her return to the court for the 2018/19 WNBL season, but as fate would have it, she suffered another injury in just her second game back after her knee reconstruction.

 

By Aiden BURGESS