High-flying Falcons receive boost with arrival of college star Elissa Brett

Now, Brett hopes to help lead the Newcastle Falcons to a NBL1 East championship.

Brett will make her Falcons debut against Sutherland in Sydney on Saturday night before backing up against Norths at home on Sunday.

The 182cm guard from Adelaide recently completed her college career at the University of Michigan.

She and Newcastle's Chyra Evans were part of the Michigan team which went down 106-89 to a Clark-led Iowa in the Big Ten Conference.

Clark dropped 49 points - a new National Collegiate Athletics Association record - and went on to lead the Hawkeyes to the national final.

She finished her four-year college career with 3951 points, the most in history.

Selected No.1 in the WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever, Clark has since signed a $28 million deal with Nike.

Brett started against Iowa but only played 16 minutes before fouling out.

"There were a few fouls on Caitlin," Brett said. "It is awesome to see what she has done. ESPN filmed a documentary on her and that game was part of it. "It is cool to be a part of history She has a really quick first step and is unpredictable. She has a great shot and can get to the rim too, which makes her so hard to guard."

Brett, a former Australian under-18 representative, was lured to the Falcons by Evans, who has changed colleges to Utah and has not been cleared to play for her hometown club.

"After college I was looking for an opportunity," Brett said. "Ultimately, I want to play in the WNBL or over in Europe."

Brett has spent a week with the Falcons, who are third with a 9-1 win-loss record.

Once in the swing, she will take some of the scoring pressure off American Nicole Munger and Australia under-20s centre Isla Juffermans.

"Elissa is a high quality player," Falcons coach Kristy Bultitude said. "She can shoot the ball and defensively she has the ability to contain players."

The Falcons men also also set to get a boost with new import Leo O'Boyle to touch down on Monday. A 199cm power forward, O'Boyle played last season for Penn State University.

The Falcons have recorded back-to back wins over Manly and Central Coast.

"We planned not to have Leo this weekend," coach Josh Morgan said. "If we defend and shoot the ball like we have in the past two games, we should be fine. We have to do the work.

"Norths are in a similar position to us in that they have to get up the ladder. They will be running and gunning. Any weekend with two games is tough. whoever deals with that the best will be on top."