Jul. 14—Riley Lupfer jokes about one day having to grow up and be an adult.
Until then, the former Lewis and Clark High and Boise State standout basketball player will continue doing what she loves the most.
Advertisement
The 28-year-old Lupfer wants to play as long as she can. And even when walks away from making 3-pointers — her signature as far as basketball is concerned — she plans to stay around the sport.
“Not a 9-to-5 girl yet,” Lupfer said in a phone interview from Albury, Australia.
Lupfer is in her third year of a professional career, and it’s easily been her best. It’s her second season in Australia and first with the Albury Wodonga Bandits, a National Basketball League1 team. NBL1 is considered a semi-professional league, a step below the premier Women’s National Basketball League — the Australian sister to the WNBA.
Lupfer, a 5-foot-9 left-handed shooting guard, is making a name for herself in southeast Australia. In a game July 5, she broke the league’s single-game scoring record with 55 points. She made 16 of 22 3-pointers, another record.
Advertisement
Once she shook off the six-hour drive beforehand, Lupfer found herself in just another game. But things quickly evolved into something bordering on insanity.
“Everything just went right. I’ve never had a shooting game like that,” Lupfer said.
Lupfer made six 3-pointers in the first half. She opened the third quarter with three straight 3-pointers.
“At that point, when you’re in a zone like that, you’re not thinking at all,” Lupfer said.
In a game filled with remarkable long-distance shooting, Lupfer outdid herself at the end of the third quarter when she made a shot from just beyond midcourt.
Advertisement
She didn’t have a chance to square up and look at the basket.
“I chucked it with my left hand,” Lupfer said. “A girl was in the way. I didn’t get into my normal (shooting) motion.”
The shot banked off the backboard into the net.
Lupfer reached 51 points with just under 4 minutes to play and asked her coach, Sam McDonald, to take her out because the Bandits had another game the next day. Somebody near the bench told her the single-game record was 53.
McDonald decided to give Lupfer a chance to break the record. Not 15 seconds back in the game, Lupfer fired away from behind the arc and was fouled as the ball went through the net. She made the ensuing free throw for her 55th point and McDonald promptly took her out.
Advertisement
“What are the odds of that?” Lupfer said of completing the four-point play for the record.
She made two other shots, both layups, to go along with five steals and four rebounds to lead Albury Wodonga over Illawarra 111-72.
“She is hands down the best shooter I’ve seen, and she’s got the green light from me,” McDonald, in his second year as the Bandits’ coach, told a reporter with basketball.com.au after the game. “… The poor Illawara girls, if you go back and reviewed the game, you probably couldn’t fault too much of the defense. There’s a hand right there and she’s knocking them down.”
Lupfer appreciates the record but will treasure sharing the memory with her teammates more than anything.
Advertisement
“A photographer got a photo of our bench when I made the final shot. They were so excited,” Lupfer said. “Just just being part of this team, that’s the best part of basketball. And seeing their reactions just put a smile on my face.”
By the way, Lupfer had 28 points 24 hours later.
Lupfer has made 3-pointers in bunches all season. In the season opener, she made 10 and in another game she had 12.
She’s averaging 23.4 points per game, second best on the team. The Bandits have qualified for the East Conference playoffs which begin in two weeks.
If the Bandits win the East, they would advance to the NBL1 finals against the North, South and West winners. Albury Wodonga has beaten two of the three teams in the East.
Advertisement
“We can win (the East) for sure,” Lupfer said.
Lupfer has played her three professional seasons over five years since leaving Boise State. She took a year off after the first and second seasons.
Playing for the Bandits reminds her of the four years she spent in Boise. Lupfer played a key role off the bench as a freshman and started three seasons. She led the Broncos to four straight Mountain West Conference Tournament championships.
Lupfer stays in touch with her former BSU coaches and teammates, whom she counts among her best friends. BSU head coach Gordy Presnell heard about Lupfer’s record game.
Advertisement
“Riley had a lot to do with changing the culture of our program,” Presnell said while on a recruiting trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. “She has a great passion for basketball and led by example. From her freshman year she operated out of a ‘this is how we are going to do things (mentality)’ and everyone followed her.”
Presnell recalled the Mountain West Tournament in Lupfer’s freshman season. She came off the bench against regular-season champ Colorado State to score 15 points, making three straight 3-pointers down the stretch as fourth-seeded BSU upset CSU 65-61.
“The Colorado State coach said in the press conference his team had been ‘Lupfered’,” Presnell said. “She always had a drive to be the best version of herself and that’s how she led. It was an honor just to be part of her basketball life for a little while.”
Lupfer holds the BSU record for career made 3-pointers (350).
Advertisement
She will return to Spokane when the Bandits’ season concludes. Her coach wants her back another season. She’s keeping her options open at this point.
“I’ve always been obsessed with basketball, and that will never change,” Lupfer said.
