Sizzling Mitchell one of Australia's best this season

SYDNEY (WNBL/FIBA World Championship for Women) - It took a while for Australia's Leilani Mitchell to find her shooting stroke at the FIBA World Championship for Women but once she did, the 1.65m point guard was a real weapon against both Canada and the United States in the knockout stages.

In those two games, Mitchell caught fire from the arc, making five of nine three-pointers and scoring a combined total of 19 points.

Equally important was that Mitchell dug in her heels on defense and allowed starter Erin Phillips to take short breaks during the tournament.

She would finish her first major tournament with a huge smile on her face because Mitchell stepped onto the podium after the Opals won convincingly over hosts Turkey in the Third-Place Game.

Back home Down Under, Mitchell is proving to be one of the top players in the Women's National Basketball League while competing for the Brydens Sydney Uni Flames.

Mitchell was the Player of the Week in Round 5 and she has finished third on the Player of the Month ladder for November behind another Opal, Abby Bishop of the University of Canberra Capitals and Tess Madgen of the Melbourne Boomers.

Mitchell has been shooting a scalding hot 47.7 percent (21 of 44) from behind the arc on the season and also handing out 5.3 assists per game.

In November, she averaged 14.4 points per game. On the final day of the month against Melbourne, Mitchell collected her first double-double with 12 points and 11 assists.

The 29-year-old will no doubt be in the reckoning for a spot in the Opals team that competes against New Zealand's Tall Ferns at next summer's FIBA Oceania Championship for Women.

FIBA