Breakout star Rotunno "taking opportunity with both hands"

One of the competition's breakout stars through the first four rounds of the WNBL26 is without a doubt Geelong's Lilly Rotunno.

Stepping in for the injured Shyla Heal, Rotunno is averaging seven points, 4.3 assists and 1.5 rebounds per contest this season.

Emphasising those numbers and her impact was the Queensland product's incredible performance on Tuesday.

In 37.17 minutes on the court, Rotunno produced career highs in points (21), assists (10), rebounds (four) and triples (three) to guide Geelong to their best win of the season over Perth.

But as her coach Chris Lucas, who recently celebrated his 400th WNBL game, explains, this strong play by Rotunno is no fluke, rather a result of her hard work.

“I had Lilly at Melbourne and she was playing a bit of a role there for us when we had injuries at Melbourne Boomers, and she’s worked on her game," Lucas said in Tuesday's post-game press conference.

"We actually thought she wouldn’t be playing a huge role for us in her first year as a rostered player, but she’s taking her opportunities now with both hands, and you couldn’t ask for any more.

“That is clearly her best WNBL game and I’m really pleased for her because of the work she’s put in, but really proud of her as well.

“She’s usually the last here to shoot, doing extra shooting and working on her game, and she’s coachable. She’s a pleasure to coach.”

Upon reflecting on her career night and overall growth as a player, Rotunno credited coach Lucas for helping take her game to the next level during her first season as a rostered player.

“In the off-season, it [scoring] was something I was really trying to focus on and I knew it would be the jump for me being a DP the last few years in the WNBL to jumping to a roster spot and actually making an impact, I need to be a scorer,” she said.

“I’ve always been facilitate first, but to facilitate I need to be scoring aggressively.

“The group itself, all the girls have been so supportive of me coming into the role that I’ve been playing with Shyla (Heal) out. It’s just something I’ve been working on and something I know I needed to improve on.

“It’s definitely nice to see them drop and the work I’ve put in off court really reflect in how I played.

“[Now] I only want to get better and want to continue to improve especially being so young, so my relationship with Chris is really important to me."

Rotunno and her Venom, who are 2-4, will look to continue their strong form when they host Southside Melbourne on Friday night.

The Round 5 fixture tips off at 5.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN2 and 9Now.

Tickets to the tall-Victorian clash are still available here.