Captain Keely Froling has praised Marianna Tolo's first performance for the Launceston Tornadoes in NBL1 South.
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Tolo made a stunning debut on her birthday as they recorded a 91-65 win against Dandenong at home on Saturday.
The Australian Opal and four-time WNBL champion sunk 18 points, had four rebounds, six assists and four steals.
"The biggest thing with Tolo is she's a massive inside presence," Froling said.
"Kelsey (Griffin) and I, we can obviously play on the low block but our games are a little bit different but Tolo is a true centre.
"I also appreciate I didn't have to do the jump ball.
"She's going to draw a lot of defenders in there and I think it also opens up for our shooters because you have to double-team Tolo, you can't leave her in single coverage in the low blocks.
"Micah (Simpson) and (Mariah) Payne had a great shooting night and it helps them as well."
Froling said Tolo had made a seamless transition into the organisation.
"Tolo's an awesome player, a great leader and defensively she made a really big impact as well," she said.
"She's only going to get better and better from here and it was great to have her out there."
Froling continued her fine season with 25 points, five steals and 20 boards.
"I've played with Tolo for plenty of years and in a lot of competitions and I love playing with her and I think our games gel well together," the skipper said.
"She loves that low block around the keyway so it's good to have her in there and I'll get her the ball and she can get me the ball as well."
Launceston plays Eltham on Saturday night at Eltham High School and Ringwood Hawks at The Rings at midday on Sunday.
The Tornadoes, who are fifth on the ladder with nine wins and four losses, beat the Hawks by eight points in May.
Ringwood is third with 11 victories while Eltham is 14th.
Froling described them as danger games.
"We had a great battle with Ringwood at home a couple of weeks ago so we know what they can bring and Eltham's the same, they've got a lot of talent so we've got to come ready," she said.
"We want these two wins and it's really important to us coming into the latter half of the season to make sure we're stringing some wins together.
"We want to get back to back wins and then we play another two games the next weekend, so if we can go four from four that would be huge and really put us in a good spot for finals."
Sydney is hosting the Women's Basketball World Cup in September which both Froling and Tolo are working towards as Opals representatives.
When asked if having Tolo around was helpful for her own preparation, Froling was quick to point out the whole Tornadoes squad was providing her with great support.
"That's always in the back of your mind but for me it's just nice to have Tolo here playing Torns and that's our number one priority at the moment," she said.
"Obviously we can workout together and do all our extra conditioning and gym stuff so that's nice.
"But I mean the girls have been awesome with that anyway in our team and have really bought into that.
"The young girls are doing extra conditioning sessions and weight sessions, all those things that I'm doing to prepare for that (September).
"It's great to have Tolo join in with that as well but it's not like I haven't been supported this whole time, I have to give props to our development players and training players, they're doing every extra session as well so it's great.
"That's why I love playing with the Torns so much."
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