With Bendigo missing two starters against Adelaide in Round 5 Spirit co-captain Griffin led from the front with an incredible game to score 30 points, take 10 rebounds and make six steals to be named the WNBL’s Player of the Week. Griffin and Melbourne Boomers guard Tiffany Mitchell both earnt their third selection of the 2022/23 season in the Cygnett WNBL’s Team of the Week in Round 5. A trio of players earnt their first TOTW selection of 2022/23 in Round 5 – Sydney Flames duo Keely Froling and Shyla Heal along with Townsville Fire guard/forward Karlie Samuelson.  

Tiffany Mitchell playing for Melbourne Boomers against Townsville Fire at the State Basketball Centre on 7 December 2022

Player of the Round – Kelsey Griffin, Bendigo Spirit

With starters Abbey Wehrung and Megan McKay missing Round 5 due to illness and family commitments respectively Bendigo were challenged by Adelaide in their game at Mildura Sporting Precinct on Saturday 10 December. Co-captain Griffin was outstanding throughout the game and made a three-pointer with nine minutes and 38 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to increase her tally to 22 points and extend Bendigo’s lead to 11 points, 68-57. Adelaide reduced the gap to six points, 70-76 with three minutes and 30 seconds left in the fourth term and were within striking distance. In a phenomenal two and a half minute burst Griffin scored five points, took two rebounds, made two steals and one assist to be the catalyst for Bendigo scoring eight unanswered points to extend the lead to 14 points, 84-70 with a minute to play, ensuring a Bendigo victory. With the win the Spirit have won their first six games of the 2022/23 season. The last time Bendigo won their first six games of the season was when they won the club’s first WNBL Championship in 2012/13.  

Kelsey Griffin contesting the jump ball for Bendigo Spirit in a pre-season game against Southside Flyers at Dandenong Stadium on 22 October 2022

In Bendigo’s 84-75 victory against Adelaide Griffin filled up the stat sheet to score 30 points, take 10 rebounds and make six steals to set game-highs in all three categories. Griffin shot the ball proficiently to make 11 of 18 field goals at an accuracy of 61% and three of seven three-pointers. Griffin also contributes in ways that aren’t measured by stats including hustle, basketball IQ and leadership alongside Spirit co-captain Kelly Wilson.

Griffin has played in all six Bendigo victories in the first five rounds of the 2022/23 WNBL season and is averaging 18.0 points (4^th in the WNBL), 7.7 rebounds (equal 7^th), 2.8 assists and a league-leading 3.2 steals per game. Griffin is averaging a career-high 2.3 three-pointers made per game – ranked equal sixth in the league. For her exceptional game against Adelaide Griffin was named the WNBL’s Player of the Week and earnt selection in the WNBL’s Team of the Week for the third time in 2022/23, having been selected previously in Rounds 1 and 4.

Later this month Griffin reaches the significant milestone of 200 WNBL games. Griffin made her WNBL debut 10 years and 1 month ago against Sydney on 16 November 2012 and has had an incredible decade in the WNBL from both a personal and team perspective. Griffin has played in four WNBL Championships comprised of back-to-back WNBL Championships with Bendigo Spirit in 2012/13 and 2013/14 and back-to-back WNBL Championships with the University of Canberra Capitals in 2018/19 and 2019/20. In her first three WNBL titles Griffin won the Rachel Sporn medal as Grand Final Most Valuable Player. Griffin won the WNBL’s regular season MVP Award in 2018/19 and received the Robyn Maher Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2014/15. Throughout her decorated career Griffin has earnt All-WNBL selection four times, being selected on the first team in 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2018/19 and was named on the second team in 2021/22.

Kelsey Griffin shooting a free throw for Bendigo Spirit against the Melbourne Boomers on 23 October 2016 at the State Basketball Centre   

To celebrate Griffin reaching 200 WNBL games Milestones and Misses will be publishing an article that comprehensively covers Griffin’s magnificent basketball career.

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In the past 12 months articles have been published on Milestones and Misses to celebrate the following players achieving games milestones in the WNBL:

Sami Whitcomb 100 WNBL games

Abbey Wehrung 150 WNBL games

Maddison Rocci 100 WNBL games

Kelly Wilson 400 WNBL games

Steph Talbot 150 WNBL games

Bec Cole 200 WNBL games

Aimie Rocci 200 WNBL games

Abby Bishop 250 WNBL games

Below is a link to the WNBL milestone games category of Milestones and Misses as well as the home page:

https://milestonesandmisses.com/category/wnbl/games-milestones/

https://milestonesandmisses.com/

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Team of the Week – Tiffany Mitchell, Melbourne Boomers

In a Round 5 home game at the State Basketball Centre the Melbourne Boomers trailed Townsville Fire 37-49 at half-time. In the third quarter American import Mitchell scored 10 points comprised of two three-pointers, a lay-up and a jump-shot to spark a Boomers 28-19 term, reducing the deficit to three points, 65-68. The Boomers maintained their momentum in the fourth quarter to outscore Townsville 19-10 in the last term and record an 84-78 victory.

During The WNBL Show – EP 07 published yesterday Mitchell commented on her third quarter performance for the Boomers against Townsville, saying “I just kind of put it on myself to step up, the game we were playing in the first half wasn’t Boomers basketball. We had a lot of turnovers, me included so I just took that in the second half to try to clean some things up and just be really sharp what I was doing. Making my shots, getting my teammates open for their shots, turned my defense into offense and just tried to get going from there.”

Tiffany Mitchell playing for Melbourne Boomers against Townsville Fire at the State Basketball Centre on 7 December 2022

Mitchell finished the Boomers Round 5 victory against Townsville with an equal game-high 23 points, two rebounds, five assists and a game-high four steals. Mitchell shot the ball adeptly to make nine of 14 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 64.3% and was even more damaging from long range, making five of six three-pointers at 83.3%.

Tiffany Mitchell with Melbourne Boomers teammates after their victory against Townsville Fire at the State Basketball Centre on 7 December 2022

Mitchell was a starter in the Melbourne Boomers 2021/22 WNBL Championship winning team and is the only import with previous WNBL experience that is playing in the league during the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season. Mitchell was a co-host of The WNBL Show – EP 07 and was asked by fellow co-host Megan Hustwaite “Was it an easy decision to come back?” Mitchell responded “Yes and no. Honestly if I was to play overseas this was going to be the team that I chose to play for. The way the Boomers run things is very professional, one of the most professional teams I have ever been a part of so it was a pretty easy decision once I know I wanted to come back overseas.”

Mitchell played her seventh consecutive WNBA season with Indiana Fever in 2022 and set new career-highs for field goal accuracy and three-point accuracy. Mitchell has carried this shooting form into the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season and is shooting the ball proficiently to have a field goal accuracy of 52.7% and a three-point accuracy of 61.7% – ranked second overall in the WNBL. Mitchell has made 2.2 three pointers per game -ranked equal eighth in the WNBL along with Boomers captain George.

Tiffany Mitchell playing for Melbourne Boomers against Townsville Fire at the State Basketball Centre on 7 December 2022

During the first 5 rounds Mitchell has played all six games for the Boomers and is averaging a league-leading 22.2 points per game, 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists (ranked equal third in the WNBL), 2.3 steals (equal third in the WNBL), and a league-high 36.2 minutes per game.

Team of the Week – Karlie Samuelson, Townsville Fire

Import Karlie Samuelson suffered a neck injury late in the second quarter of Townsville’s home game against Bendigo on Friday 2 December. Samuelson took no further part in the game and initially there were fears that Samuelson might miss some games due to the neck injury.

Samuelson was able to take her part in Townsville’s next game to commence Round 5 at the State Basketball Centre against the Melbourne Boomers. Samuelson took her usual place in the Fire’s starting line-up to score 10 points and make two assists in Townsville’s 78-84 loss.

Karlie Samuelson playing for Townsville Fire against Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 7 December 2022

Townsville remained in Melbourne and played a second game for Round 5 at the State Basketball Centre against the Southside Flyers three days later on Saturday 10 December. Samuelson set the tone for her brilliant Round 5 performance against the Flyers immediately, making a three-pointer five seconds into the first quarter. Townsville Fire centre Mikaela Ruef injured her ankle in the second minute of the first term and took no further part in the game and point guard Steph Reid had some foul trouble.

Early in the last quarter Samuelson had scored 14 points for the game and Townsville and Southside were locked on 63 points apiece with eight minutes and 55 seconds left in the last term. Samuelson made two three-pointers in a minute to open up a five point Townsville lead 71-66 with seven minutes and 55 seconds to play. Later in the fourth quarter Samuelson made two lay-ups and two free-throws to play a crucial role in Townsville’s 82-79 road victory against Southside. When the stakes were at their highest Townsville outscored Southside 19 points to 18 in the last quarter with Samuelson leading the way to score 12 points and account for just under a third of the 37 points scored by the two teams combined in the final term.

Karlie Samuelson playing for Townsville Fire against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 10 December 2022

Against the Southside Flyers Samuelson played the full 40 minutes, scored a game-high 26 points, took four rebounds, made one assist and one steal. Samuelson shot the ball proficiently to make nine of 12 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 75% and six of nine three-pointers at 66.7%.

Townsville’s victory consolidated their place in the top four and ensured that they will win the season series against Southside, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead with the third and final clash between the two teams to take place in the final round on Saturday 4 March at the State Basketball Centre.  

During the 2021/22 season Townsville made 5.9 three-pointers per game, ranked last in the WNBL and were ranked equal sixth for three-point accuracy with 29.8%. A key reason for Samuelson’s recruitment by Townsville in the off-season was her three-point shooting ability and she has well and truly delivered in her first WNBL season. Samuelson has played all six of Townsville’s games in the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season and has made 15 of 33 three-pointers at an accuracy of 45.5%. Samuelson’s 2.5 three-pointers made per game ranks fourth in the WNBL and second at Townsville just behind club captain Lauren Nicholson (2.7 three-pointers made per game).

Karlie Samuelson shooting a three-pointer for Townsville Fire against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 10 December 2022

Team of the Week – Keely Froling, Sydney Flames

In Round 5 at the National Convention Centre on 10 December the University of Canberra Capitals hosted the Sydney Uni Flames, both teams were searching for their first victory of the season after five consecutive losses. Sydney’s 2021/22 joint MVP winners Keely Froling and Shyla Heal combined to register the first basket of the game with Heal providing the assist for a Froling lay-up. Heal and Froling maintained a high standard to be the two highest scores of the game in Sydney’s 92-80 victory and were both selected in the WNBL’s Round 5 Team of the Week. Sydney had their best shooting performance of the season to make 32 of 58 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 55.2%.

Keely Froling playing for Sydney Flames against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 1 December 2022

Froling shot the ball superbly to make eight of 13 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 61.5%, her only three-pointer and all five free-throws to score a game-high 22 points. Froling made a massive impact on the boards to take a game-high 16 rebounds comprised of four offensive and 12 defensive to enable Sydney to win the rebounding battle against the Capitals 34-29. Froling also made two assists and blocked one shot.

On Sydney’s first win of the 2022/23 season Froling told The WNBL Show – EP 07 published yesterday “It was relief and also reward for our hard work, we have been really close in a lot of games and it has probably been five minutes or a quarter that we haven’t played our best basketball that has cost us some games. It was really nice to get that win under our belt and hopefully we can build on that.”  

Froling is averaging 17.5 points (ranked fifth in the WNBL) and 7.7 rebounds (ranked equal seventh in the WNBL) per game. Froling has made 38 of 68 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 55.9% – ranked seventh in the WNBL among players that have made at least 10 field goals.

Keely Froling shooting a free throw for Sydney Flames against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 1 December 2022

Team of the Week – Shyla Heal, Sydney Flames

In the opening quarter against the Capitals Heal scored eight points comprised of a lay-up, a jump-shot, a free-throw and step-back three. Heal finished the game with a season-high 21 points, made seven of 15 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 46.7% and made three of six three-pointers at 50%. Heal took six rebounds – ranked second for the Flames behind Froling and made a team-high six assists.  

Shyla Heal playing for Sydney Flames against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 1 December 2022

During The WNBL Show EP 07 Sydney captain Keely Froling commented on Heal’s performance against the UC Capitals “It was awesome and great to see, obviously she puts in a lot of hard work, her shot hasn’t been dropping along with a lot of us so it was great for her to get that confidence.”

Shyla Heal shooting a three-pointer for Sydney Flames against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 1 December 2022

Heal has played all six games for Sydney Flames in 2022/23 and is averaging 14.5 points (ranked 15 in the WNBL) and 4.0 assists (equal 10^th in the WNBL) per game. 

Article and photographs by Dean Andrews

Twitter – @DeanAndrews7777

Milestones and Misses

Milestones and Misses publishes articles to celebrate the achievements of sportspeople, mainly in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) and Australian Rules Football (AFL and AFLW). In sport as with life in general it is common that milestones are only achieved after overcoming adversity, so whilst the articles on the Milestones and Misses website celebrate sportspeople achieving milestones they also cover the misses along the journey such as a player having minimal game-time or spending a prolonged period on the sidelines due to injury. The aim of the articles is to enable readers to gain a greater appreciation of the journey sportspeople have had during their career.

A link to Milestones and Misses homepage and WNBL category is below:

https://milestonesandmisses.com/

https://milestonesandmisses.com/category/wnbl/

The Milestones and Misses website was set up in December 2015. From 2020 onwards articles have been published on the following sportspeople:

WNBL

Sami Whitcomb

Abbey Wehrung

Penny Taylor

Rachel Jarry

Steph Reid

Kristy Wallace

Anneli Maley

Lindsay Allen

Jade Melbourne

Maddison Rocci

Cayla George

Kelly Wilson

Steph Talbot

Bec Cole

Aimie Rocci

Abby Bishop

Tessa Lavey

Ezi Magbegor

Zitina Aokuso

Leilani Mitchell

Maddie Garrick

Sara Blicavs

NBL

Nathan Sobey

AFLW

Ashleigh Riddell

Hayley Miller

Darcy Vescio

Tessa Lavey

Georgia Patrikios

Alyce Parker

Tyla Hanks

Tyanna Smith

Tarni White

Caitlin Greiser

AFL

Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin

Nicky Winmar

Sam Walsh

Jack Steele

Luke Jackson

Harry McKay

Seb Ross

Jayden Short

Clayton Oliver

Lenny Hayes

Tim Membrey

Rowan Marshall