After spending her 20th birthday putting up 33 points and 12 rebounds to help her team seal a 26-point victory over Bundaberg at the weekend, Nadeen Payne from the Ipswich Force is the women’s Player of the Week for Round 5. Bundaberg got out in front of the Force at the start of the game, with Ipswich managing to fight back from a five-point deficit to finish the first quarter ahead 17-12, with Payne hitting 10 points in the quarter to help her team get out in front. Payne did the most damage in the second quarter, putting up 18 points and also having a hand in a number of assists to help the Force build a 15-point lead by halftime. Ipswich continued to dominate in the third quarter, heading into the final stanza with a 26-point lead and managing to hold off attempts by Bundaberg to bring back the deficit, to eventually finish the match with a 81-55 win. During her 34 minutes on court, Payne shot at 60.9% accuracy in the field, and only dropped one of her six foul shots, while also contributing five assists, two steals and one block. The win on Friday night took the Force to four wins out of six games, and sees them currently leading Pool C. 

Payne’s performance in Round 5 has been one of her best this season, but she has been consistently strong each week for the Force, scoring in excess of 20 points each game in addition to bringing in a multitude of rebounds. The forward/centre swing currently sits on an average of 23.7 points at 45.5% in the field and 80.4% at the foul line and 9.7 rebounds per game. It’s the Townsville native’s second season with the Force, coming back to the QBL team following a promising first season with WNBL club Adelaide Lightning  - her averages of 8.5 points and 3.6 assists per game earning her a renewal with the team for the 2013/14 WNBL season. Her 2012 season with Ipswich saw her hit an average of 22.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, and was named Player of the Week for Round 8 for contributing 35 points and 12 rebounds for the Force in their win over the Northside Wizards. Payne was awarded a scholarship to the AIS in 2009, and played two seasons with the AIS WNBL, averaging 6.1 points per game in her first season in 2009/2010. 2009 also saw her selected for the Australian Under 18 team, and won gold for Australia at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival. Payne also represented Australia at the FIBA Under 17 World Championship in France in 2010. She began the 2010/2011 WNBL season with the AIS for two matches, before being signed to the Townsville Fire, where she averaged 8.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in the 11 matches for her home team. In 2011, Payne made it through to the semifinals of the FIBA Under 19 World Championship in Chile with the Australian Gems, and also won bronze with Queensland at the Australian Under 20 National Championships in the same year. Payne returned to the Townsville Fire for the 2011/2012 WNBL season, to play 22 games and average 8.1 points per game for the Fire, with the team making it through to the semifinals.