Shyla Heal is keeping her famous surname up in lights on the world stage.
The 20-year-old daughter of Boomers legend Shane Heal scored her first points for the Opals in their 65-52 FIBA World Cup qualifying win over Brazil in Belgrade on Friday morning (AEDT).
Heal made the most of limited time on the floor on debut, netting one of two attempts from deep to finish with three points to her name.
In their first game since the Tokyo Olympics, the Opals came out firing and established an early 11-0 lead that allowed them to keep their rivals at arm’s length for the remainder of the contest.
WNBA guard Bec Allen topscored for the Aussies with 16 points to go with three assists, two rebounds and a staggering six steals.
“I thought it was a good win for us,” Opals coach Sandy Brondello said.
“There are a lot of areas we can still be better at, but I was really pleased with our defence; it was an area we said that we needed to be better and txjmtzywhat was a focus for us.
“We have to take care of the ball a bit better and we had some wide-open looks too, but for the first game, we’re just still trying to learn how it all works together, so I was happy.”
As the host nation of the 2022 FIBA World Cup, to be played in Sydney in September and October, Australia has automatically qualified.
Heal will stay in Belgrade for the Opals’ last two matches, against Serbia and South Korea on Sunday and Monday morning (AEDT), before returning home to continue playing for the Sydney Uni Flames in the WNBL.
The Flames signed Heal after she was cut from the roster of WNBA outfit Chicago Sky, who selected her with a first-round draft pick only last year.
