Hoiho sign Australian, Silver Fern

Chelsea D’Angelo. Photo: Getty Images
Chelsea D’Angelo. Photo: Getty Images
An Australian junior international and a former Silver Fern have signed with the Southern Hoiho this season.

Australian forward Chelsea D’Angelo and new Southern Steel shooter Aliyah Dunn will don the blue singlet for the Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa League season.

D’Angelo, originally from Victoria, represented Australia at the Junior World Cup in Thailand in 2019 and played for the Melbourne Boomers from 2016 to 2020 and the Southside Flyers in 2021-2022 in the WNBL.

After playing in Treviso, Italy, for the 2023-24 season, D’Angelo most recently played for the Frankston Blues in the NBL1 South, where she averaged 19.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds.

While Dunn has carved her craft on the netball court - she played four tests for the Silver Ferns in 2018 - she is no stranger to basketball.

Dunn, who played for the Central Pulse and Mainland Tactix before signing with the Steel for next season, represented the junior Tall Ferns in her youth and played for the Tokomanawa Queens in 2022 when they won the inaugural Tauihi title.

Dunn and D’Angelo join local players Samara Gallaher and Zoe Richards, and imports Ahlise Hurst, Paige Bradley, Natalie Chou and Samantha Bowman.

Todd Marshall also returns as coach.

Australian import Isabella Brancatisano has been released to take up a contract with the Sydney Flames in the ANBL.