lla Tofaeono with Texas A&M University and the Penrith Youth League. Photo by Noel Rowsell

Former Penrith District Basketball junior representative Ella Tofaeono has been named in the 12-member 2degrees Tall Ferns female team that will represent New Zealand at the FIBA ​​Women’s World Cup Pre-Qualifier tournament in Mexico City from August 19-25.

Ella is one of three players selected from the Australian NBL1 competition, where she plays for the Townsville Flames.

This will be the first time the 2degrees Tall Ferns have played in Mexico and they will face Montenegro, Mexico and Mozambique in Group B. If they make it to the semi-finals, they will face opponents in Group A which includes Korea, Mali, Czech Republic and Venezuela.

If the Tall Ferns finish first in the overall standings in the tournament, they will qualify for the 2026 FIBA ​​Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifiers. This is their final step on the road to New Zealand’s first appearance at the FIBA ​​Women’s World Cup since 1994.

Ella began her basketball career at the Hills District Basketball Association, playing for the U14 (2010–11) and U16 (2012) national teams.

She moved to Penrith in 2013 and played in the U16 Division 1, Under 18 Division (2014–15), Waratah Youth League and Waratah Women’s League (2016) that year, winning the Defensive Player of the Year award and being named in the All Star Five.

From 2011 to 2016, Ella participated in the Talented Athlete Program (TAP), the National Intensive Training Program, played in the East Coast Challenge twice, made the NSW U16 girls team twice (2012-13), the Basketball Australia U19 Development Camp (2013), the NSW U16 girls team twice (2014-15) and the NSW U20 girls team (2016).

Ella moved to the United States to play for Midland College in Texas. She was a member of the NJCAAD Division 1 All-American Third Team in 2017-18 (Freshman), 2018-19 (Redshirt), 2019-20 (Sophomore), and 2020.

She transferred to Texas A&M University, where she played during the 2020–21 season (junior), reaching the Texas A&M SEC regular season championship, the semifinals of the Texas A&M SEC tournament, and the Texad A&M NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

Ella returned to Australia in 2023 where she signed a contract to play in the NBL1 with the Geelong United Supercats, then moved to the Townsville Flames in 2024 where she is also currently a squad member of WNBL team the Townsville Fire.

NB: Tahlia Tupaea is the last Penrith player selected for the Tall Ferns.