Fresh from becoming the WNBL's youngest MVP in 15 years, Izzy Borlase is already looking ahead to overcoming her next hurdle.
Borlase will play her first finals game with her young and largely inexperienced club Bendigo Spirit when they face the Perth Lynx on Saturday.
But although the 21-year-old is looking to make a post-season impression, there's something else lingering in her mind.
Just days after the finals finish, she will fly out to play for the Opals in the World Cup Qualifiers in Turkey, beginning on March 11.
Although the national team has already qualified for the tournament, which begins on September 4 in Germany, Borlase believes a strong performance in the finals will be key to keeping her on the team.
"I'm so grateful to have received the award but now I'm just happy to turn that page and hopefully be more focused on the task at hand," Borlase told AAP.
"If we were to go all the way to the championship round, that's the most ideal scenario in the sense of playing basketball until we have to leave.
"The more games I can play, the better the preparation. I want to be game fit, have the right touch, so I'm super happy to be in the finals."
However, Borlase and Bendigo face an uphill battle to return to the competition's grand final for a second straight campaign.
Unlike last year's star-studded spirit side, which included Sami Whitcomb, Marianna Tolo, and Veronica Burton, this season four of Bendigo's top six players have never played in the finals.
The Spirit will match up against the title-contending Lynx, who had four players make the All-WNBL first or second team.
All of their starting five have also either played in the semi-finals of the WNBL or the World Cup.
Making matters worse, Bendigo have lost their past three games including an 88-64 blowout to Perth on February 1.
But despite the odds and inexperience, Borlase says they are "right there".
"We've been implementing things and habits to put us in the right position to compete in the finals, particularly against a more experienced Perth team," she said.
"We don't have too many expectations on ourselves to do anything too amazing. It's probably on them."
Perth's Ally Wilson doesn't believe it is her side's series to lose, and says they can't be complacent despite beating Bendigo three times this season.
"We've had a lot of adversity as a team this season with injuries and then Han Xu coming in. We've taken a while to get to our best basketball and are peaking at the right end of the season," Wilson told AAP.
"They'll have a good week of training under their belts, so we've got to make sure that we're taking care of the things that we can take care of."
