Starlites BC announced their new signing in former Luxol player Kayleigh Portelli on Tuesday. This comes with the return of Malta international Mikela Riolo, who spent the 2020-21 season in Spain playing for Magec Tias as they secured their place in the Liga Femenina 2 after a tough season.

While for Portelli this will be her first move, it will be one which coach Sandro Farrugia’s side could benefit from even after ending in first place in last season’s premature finish with a 7-0 record last season. With Luxol last season, Portelli averaged 1.5 steals and 2.63 rebounds a game despite the team finishing in fourth place on a 2-6 record.

Riolo on the other hand will be looking to get more game-time after initially delaying her start to her Lanzarote experience through injury and later struggling to get minutes on court after a change in coaching staff with Magec Tias. Despite this, she joins the Naxxar side on the back of international experience with the Malta national team in Cyprus, where coach Angela Adamoli’s girls finished fourth ahead of hosts Cyprus and Andorra.

DeMartino, Curmi re-sign

Added to Portelli and Riolo, Starlites confirmed on Tuesday that Malta international duo Steffi DeMartino and Christina Curmi have re-signed to the club for the coming season.

De Martino was one of the standout performers with the Malta NT this summer, averaging 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds a game. This comes after a good season where she was the team’s top scorer with an 18.2 points per game average and 9.2 rebounds a game in the league.

Curmi averaged three points a game in this summer’s tournament with the Malta NT, getting a 40% three-point percentage. This was a reasonable upgrade to last season’s makes and will be aiming to keep this going into the new season.