The Australian women’s Gangurrus team recorded dominant victories in each of their three Qualifying Draw B games earlier this week to progress to the main draw of the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023 which commences in Singapore this afternoon, Friday 31 March. It is the fifth time that the Australian women’s team is competing in the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup, at each of the previous four tournaments Australia won a medal, winning gold in 2017 and 2019, silver in 2022 and bronze in 2018.
Three members of the Australian women’s team that won a silver medal at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup are in representing their nation at the 2023 edition of the tournament – Anneli Maley, Lauren Mansfield and Marena Whittle. Ally Wilson will be competing at her first 3×3 Asia Cup and was a member of the Australian team alongside Mansfield, Whittle and Lauren Scherf that won a bronze medal in 3×3 basketball at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Ally Wilson playing defense for Bendigo Spirit against Southside Flyers guard Bec Cole at the State Basketball Centre on 6 January 2023
In the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023 main draw 12 nations are competing, with pool games played on Friday 31 March and Saturday 1 April, followed by quarter finals, semi finals and medal games on Sunday 2 April. When the pools were announced for the women’s tournament on 21 February 2023 10 nations had secured their place in the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023 main draw whilst another nine nations were in placed in two qualifying draws to determine which two nations would complete the 12 nation main draw.
Two former winners of the women’s 3×3 Asia Cup, New Zealand and Australia were dominant on Wednesday 29 March and Thursday 30 March in their qualifying draw A and qualifying draw B games respectively to secure the last two berths in the main draw of the women’s tournament at the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023.
The article below covers:
- The history of 3×3 basketball
- 3×3 basketball rules
- The FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023 tournament in general
- The history of women’s basketball at the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup
- Player profiles on the four members of the Australian women’s Gangurru’s 3×3 team
- Information on the four members of New Zealand’s women’s Tall Ferns 3×3 team
A brief history of 3×3 basketball
The 3×3 basketball page of Olympics.com states “Exciting, urban and innovative, 3×3 is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide, and is considered the world’s number one urban team sport. FIBA has developed 3×3 as the second basketball discipline to attract a new audience and provide more opportunities for its member associations and players worldwide.”1
An official 3×3 event was held for the first time at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore. Typically there are two events held at each 3×3 tournament, men’s and women’s events, however some tournaments have also included a mixed event where each team is comprised of two men and two women. In 2011 a FIBA 3×3 Under 18 World Cup was held in Rimini, Italy. The first senior 3×3 World Cup was held in Athens in 2012. In addition to World Cup’s the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) also holds regional events including the Asia Cup and Europe Cup.
The 3×3 World Cup has been held seven times – 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022. Only one nation has won the women’s 3×3 World Cup multiple times, the United States of America – having won the first two editions of the event in 2012 and 2014. Australia have won one medal in the women’s 3×3 World Cup, a bronze medal in 2012.
Serbia have dominated the men’s 3×3 World Cup to win the gold medal five times – 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022.
In addition to the traditional five on five format of basketball the newer 3×3 format was also included at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The United States of America won the gold medal in women’s 3×3 basketball at the 2020 Olympics and Latvia won the men’s event.
3×3 basketball was played at the Commonwealth Games for the first time at Birmingham in 2022. Canada won the gold medal in the women’s tournament and England won gold in the men’s event. The Australian men won a silver medal and the Australian women won bronze.
3×3 basketball rules
Most of the rules for 3×3 basketball and the traditional five on five format of the sport are the same however there are some important modifications for 3×3 basketball. In 3×3 each team has three players on the court and one substitute. A substitution can be made in a dead-ball situation. 3×3 is played in a basketball half-court. When the defensive team gains possession they need to take the basketball past the arc before attempting a shot. The playing time for each game is 10 minutes, the game concludes at the earlier of a team scoring 21 points or the 10 minutes expiring. If scores are tied at the end of the 10 minutes the first team to score two points in overtime wins the game. Each team is allowed one time-out and at many tournaments TV time-outs are also called. The shot clock is 12 seconds. A made free throw in both 3×3 and the traditional five on five format of the sport scores one point however a different scoring system is used for shots in general play. In 3×3 a field goal made inside the arc scores 1 point and a successful shot from behind the arc earns 2 points. When it is a jump ball the defensive team gains possession. Whilst fouls are called in 3×3 basketball referees are more lenient than in 5 on 5 basketball which results in 3×3 being a more physical format of the sport. Team foul 7 and above result in the opposing team having two free throws.
2023 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup Qualifying Draws
On 3 October 2022 FIBA announced that the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup would take place in Singapore in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Singapore had successfully hosted the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup in 2022. The FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023 is being held at the Singapore Sports Hub.
12 Nations comprised of four pools with three nations each will compete in the main draw of the women’s 3×3 tournament at the 2023 FIBA Asia Cup held in Singapore from Friday 31 March to Sunday April 2. 10 nations qualified directly to the main draw and the remaining two spots in the main draw were determined during qualifying games on Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30 March.
Nine nations competed in the qualifying draw comprised of five nations in Qualifying Draw A and four nations in Qualifying Draw B. The nations in a Qualifying Draw played each of the other nations in their qualifying draw once. The winner of Qualifying Draw A advanced to Pool C and the winner of Qualifying Draw B progressed to Pool D.
The teams in Qualifying Draw A are listed below, the number in brackets is that nation’s seeding.
Qualifying Draw A
New Zealand (9)
India (13)
Sri Lanka (14)
Hong Kong (18)
Tahiti (19)
Two nations in qualifying draw A were former women’s 3×3 Asia Cup champions with India winning the first tournament in 2013 and New Zealand winning the third edition of the tournament in 2018. New Zealand won all four games in qualifying draw A to finish on top in QD A ahead of India (3 wins), Honk Kong (2 wins), Tahiti (1 win) and Sri Lanka (0 wins).
Information on the four members of New Zealand 3×3 Tall Ferns 2023 Asia Cup team, their qualifying draw A results and Pool C schedule are provided below.
New Zealand women’s 3×3 team for the 2023 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup
Player Number Position
Lauryn Hippolite 2 Guard
Krystal Leger-Walker 4 Guard
Sharne Pupuke-Robati 11 Forward
Esra McGoldrick 13 Forward
Coach – Anthony Corban.
New Zealand guard duo Krystal Leger-Walker and Lauryn Hippolite both played in the WNBL during 2022/23. Leger-Walker was a member of the JCU Townsville Fire team that won the 2022/23 WNBL Championship. Hippolite spent time as a development player with the Deakin Melbourne Boomers in both the 2021/22 and 2022/23 WNBL seasons. Joining Krystal Leger-Walker and Hippolite in New Zealand’s team for the 2023 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup are forwards Esra McGoldrick and Sharne Pupuke-Robati. During 2022/23 Hippolite, McGoldrick and Pupuke-Robati all competed in NZ Pro Quest 3×3 tournaments in New Zealand.
New Zealand have got an entirely new team to the one that competed at the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2022. The members of the New Zealand Tall Ferns team at that tournament were Jillian Harmon, Gabriella Fotu, Mary Goulding and Tayla Dalton. New Zealand won their two qualifying draw D games against Palestine 21-5 and India 17-9 to progress to the main draw. The Tall Ferns 3×3 women’s team were placed in the pool of death, Pool C with 2018 champions New Zealand joining two-time champions Australia (2018 and 2019) and 2018 silver medallists China. New Zealand were eliminated at the pool stage of the 2022 3×3 Asia Cup after losing their Pool C games to China 12-21 and Australia 11-21. Both of New Zealand’s Pool C opponents made it to the gold medal game with China defeating Australia.
In her debut WNBL season Krystal Leger-Walker was a member of the JCU Townsville Fire that won the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL Championship. A week before the 2023 FIBA 3X3 Asia Cup commenced Townsville Fire defeated the Jayco Southside Flyers 82-69 in game 2 of the 2022/23 WNBL Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre on Wednesday 22 March to win the title. Against the Sydney Uni Flames on 29 January 2023 Leger-Walker scored a season-high 10 points, in Townsville’s following game against Perth Lynx on 1 February 2023 Leger-Walker made a season-high five assists.
Krystal Leger-Walker playing for JCU Townsville Fire against the Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 10 December 2022
Krystal Leger-Walker and younger sister Charlisse are both members of New Zealand’s senior women’s basketball team, the Tall Ferns, following in the footsteps of their mother Leanne Walker who represented the New Zealand Tall Ferns at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games and is a current assistant coach of the Tall Ferns. At the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup in the traditional five on five format held in Jordan Krystal played five games for New Zealand alongside younger sister Charlisse and averaged a team-high 4.0 assists per game, ranked 10th overall at the tournament. Krystal played for New Zealand at the 2016 FIBA 3×3 World Championships.
At the 2021 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup held in Jordan in September 2021 Hippolite made her debut for New Zealand’s senior women’s basketball team the Tall Ferns and averaged 2.8 assists per game, ranked third for New Zealand. In 2021/22 and 2022/23 Hippolite spent time as a development player with the Deakin Melbourne Boomers in the WNBL.
Lauryn Hippolite playing for New Zealand against Melbourne Boomers in a pre-season game at Casey Stadium on 22 October 2022
In January and February 2023 Hippolite played six rounds of the NZ Pro Quest 3×3 Circuit in Christchurch with the Manuka Pango team and achieved great success with the team finishing first at all six rounds. In five Rounds Hippolite and New Zealand 3×3 Asia Cup teammate McGoldrick were teammates on the Manuka Pango team that finished first.
McGoldrick made her debut for the New Zealand Tall Ferns in 2019 against Japan. From December 2022 to February 2023 McGoldrick played seven rounds of the NZ Pro Quest 3×3 Circuit in Christchurch with Manuka Pango and the team finished first in all seven rounds. In Rounds 7, 8, 11, 12 and 15 McGoldrick Hippolite and New Zealand 3×3 Asia Cup teammate Hippolite were teammates on the Manuka Pango team that finished first.
Pupuke-Robati represented New Zealand at the 2018 FIBA Under 17 Women’s Basketball World Cup and averaged 9.4 points (ranked third for New Zealand), 7.0 rebounds (ranked third) and 3.1 assists (ranked second) per game. From November 2022 to February 2023 Pupuke-Robati played seven rounds of the NZ Pro Quest 3×3 Circuit in Auckland. Pupuke-Robati was a member of the Puriri Ma team that won Rounds 5 and 6.
New Zealand’s Qualifying Draw A results at the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023:
Wednesday March 29
New Zealand 19 defeated Tahiti 8
New Zealand 20 defeated India 9
Thursday March 30
New Zealand 21 defeated Sri Lanka 5
New Zealand 19 defeated Hong Kong 9
In each of their four qualifying draw A games at the 3×3 Asia Cup, the New Zealand Tall Ferns team recorded convincing victories, more than doubling their opponents score in all four encounters. Three of New Zealand’s games run the full 10 minutes and in each of these games the 3×3 Tall Ferns were one made basket short of reaching 21 points and restricted their opponent to less than 10 points. Against Sri Lanka New Zealand reached 21 points with two minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the allotted 10 minutes and held Sri Lanka to five points to have a 16 point victory.
Guard duo Lauryn Hippolite and Krystal Leger-Walker both made at least one two-pointer in each of New Zealand’s four qualifying A games. Leger-Walker has been extremely consistent with her scoring output ranging from a low of four points against Hong Kong, to a high of six points in the 3×3 Tall Ferns two games on Wednesday 29 March against Tahiti and India. Hippolite led her nation for two-pointers made during QD A games with six ahead of Leger-Walker (5) and was very effective from the perimeter against Sri Lanka to score three two-pointers in her total of seven points.
In three of New Zealand’s four qualifying draw A games forward duo Sharne Pupuke-Robati and Esra McGoldrick scored at least four points each and combined for at least 10 points between them including 13 points against Honk Kong comprised of six points for Pupuke-Robati and seven points for McGoldrick. Pupuke-Robati has done all her scoring from inside the perimeter and led New Zealand with seven points against India. McGoldrick led New Zealand during qualifying draw A with 25 points, scored a game-high eight points against Sri Lanka and has done most of her scoring from inside the perimeter but also one made two-pointer against India and Sri Lanka. 188 centimetre tall McGoldrick has been a presence on the defensive end with her ability to block shots.
New Zealand’s Pool C schedule on Saturday April 1
Mongolia (3) vs New Zealand (9) 8.40pm NZT, 6.40pm AEDT Day 4, Session 1
Malaysia (6) vs New Zealand (9) 11.40PM NZT, 9.40 PM AEDT Day 4, Session 2
The FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023 is being broadcast in New Zealand by Sky New Zealand. Games are being broadcast on the FIBA 3×3 YouTube channel and the FIBA 3×3 Facebook page however there might be issues with geo-blocking. Just after sessions are concluding they are being published on the FIBA 3×3 YouTube channel.
Qualifying Draw B
Australia (11)
Kazakhstan (12)
Republic of Korea (15)
New Caledonia (17)
Australia were dominant in their three qualifying draw B games winning each game by at least 12 points and finished with a percentage of 842.9%. Republic of Korea (2 wins) finished second ahead of Kazakhstan (one win) and New Caledonia (0 wins).
Information on the four members of Australian women’s Gangurru’s 3×3 Asia Cup 2023 team, their qualifying draw B results and Pool D schedule are provided below.
Australian Gangurru’s women’s 3×3 team for the 2023 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup
Ally Wilson 4 Guard
Lauren Mansfield 5 Guard
Marena Whittle 21 Guard/forward
Anneli Maley 24 Forward
Coach – Damon Lowery
All four members of the Australian Gangurru’s women’s 3×3 team for the 2023 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup have won at least one medal representing their nation in 3×3 basketball at an international tournament. Lauren Mansfield and Marena Whittle were on the Australian 3×3 women’s teams with Lauren Scherf that won a silver medal at the 2022 3×3 Asia Cup in Singapore and a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham. Maley was a member of the silver medal team at the Asia Cup and Wilson was a part of the bronze medal winning team at the Commonwealth Games. Whilst the 2023 Asia Cup will be the first tournament that Maley and Wilson are teammates on an Australian 3×3 team they have been teammates playing for Bendigo Spirit in the WNBL during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons. During the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season Mansfield and Whittle were teammates at Adelaide Lightning.
Lauren Mansfield and Marena Whittle playing for Adelaide Lightning against the Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2022
More details on the four members of the Australian women’s 3×3 team for the 2023 3×3 Asia Cup are provided in the Player Profiles section at the bottom of this article, with details provided on the basketball careers of the Australian quartet in the traditional five on five format of the sport as well as the newer 3×3 format.
Australia’s Qualifying Draw B results at the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023:
Wednesday March 29
Australia 21 defeated New Caledonia 0
Australia 21 defeated Kazakhstan 2
Thursday March 30
Australia 17 defeated Republic of Korea 5
In the first 30 seconds of their opening qualifying draw B game Australia opened up a 4-0 lead with Anneli Maley providing two assists to Ally Wilson and Lauren Mansfield made a two-pointer. On Wednesday 29 March Australia finished both matches well within the 10 minutes, amassed 42 points themselves and restricted their opponents to 2 points, defeating New Caledonia 21-0 and had a 21-2 victory against Kazakhstan. Australia reached 21 points against New Caledonia with four minutes and 21 seconds remaining in the 10 minutes and concluded their game against Kazakhstan with three minutes and two seconds left on the clock.
It was a very different story at the start of Australia’s game against Republic of Korea on Thursday 30 March as two minutes and five seconds into the game Australia trailed Republic of Korea 2-3. In the next 40 seconds Australia went on a 4-0 run comprised of a free-throw for Wilson, a one pointer for Whittle and a two-pointer to Whittle to regain the ascendancy and lead 6-3 with seven minutes and 15 seconds remaining. Australia restricted Republic of Korea to a total of two points for the remainder of the game to record a 17-5 win.
Australia made four two-pointer in their opening victory against New Caledonia but did the vast majority of the damage in their next two games from inside the perimeter making two two-pointers against Kazakhstan and one two-pointer against Republic of Korea. Mansfield and Whittle lead Australia with three two-pointers each, Wilson has one and Maley has done all her scoring inside the perimeter. Australia have been very effective with their ability to drive to the basket and utilise their team chemistry and passing ability to provide assists to teammates.
Whittle scored at least seven points in all three games including a game-high nine points against Republic of Korea and a game-high seven points against New Caledonia. Maley led Australia with eight points against Kazakhstan. The Gangurru’s guard duo of Wilson and Mansfield have each scored a total of 11 points comprised of five points against New Caledonia, three points against and Kazakhstan and three points against Republic of Korea. During the qualifying draw B games Whittle led Australia with 23 points ahead of Maley with 14.
Australia’s Pool D schedule on Friday March 31
Australia (11) vs India (12) 6.40pm AEDT, 8.40pm NZT Day 3, Session 1
Australia (11) vs Thailand (4) 10.55pm AEDT, 12.45am NZT Day 3, Session 2
The FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023 is being broadcast in Australia by Fox Sports Australia and Kayo Sports from the semi finals onwards. Games are being broadcast on the FIBA 3×3 YouTube channel and the FIBA 3×3 Facebook page however there might be issues with geo-blocking. Just after sessions are concluding they are being published on the FIBA 3×3 YouTube channel.
The other two pools for the women’s tournament at the FIBA 3×3 2023 Asia Cup are:
Pool A
China (1)
Iran (8)
Philippines (10)
Pool B
Japan (2)
Chinese Taipei (7)
Singapore (16)
Reigning champions and number one seeds China have won a medal at three of the last four women’s 3×3 Asia Cups, having won bronze in 2017, silver in 2018 and gold in 2022. China faced a very difficult pool in 2019 being drawn in Pool A alongside New Zealand and Australia. In a very even pool top seeds China lost to New Zealand 15-16 and lost to Australia 14-16. China won a bronze medal at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 World Cup held in Belgium from 21 to 26 June.
Number two seeds Japan have made it to the medal games at the past two 3×3 FIBA Asia Cups. In 2019 Japan defeated Mongolia 21-14 to win the bronze medal. At the 2022 3×3 Asia Cup Japan fell just short of replicating this feat and lost in the bronze medal game to Indonesia 17-21.
The 12 nations in the main draw are comprised of four pools of three teams each. Each nation plays the other two nations in their pool and the top two nations from each of the four pools progress to the quarter finals which will be held on Sunday 2 April. The Pool games commence on Friday March 31 and conclude on Saturday April 1. The quarter final winners progress to the semi finals and the medal games which are all played on Sunday 2 April. The nation that wins the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2023 qualifies for the 3×3 Paris qualifying tournament which will be held in the first half of 2024.
Women’s FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup history
The FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup is being held for the sixth time in 2023, having first been held in Doha, Qatar on 15 and 16 May 2013 when it was known as the FIBA Asia 3×3 Championship. At the 2013 tournament India won the gold medal, defeating Mongolia 21-14 in the final.
In the FIBA Federation rankings Australia and New Zealand are both classified as being in the Oceania zone and competed in Oceania Championships against other nations from this region. Five nations competed at the 2015 FIBA Women’s 3×3 Oceania Championships held on the Gold Coast – Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa. The Australian team comprised of current team member Anneli Maley along with Alexandra Sharp, Elizabeth Tonks and Chantel Horvat won three of their four pool games with the loss being to New Zealand 6-9. The trans-Tasman rivals met again in the final and Australia were triumphant in a thriller 14-13 to win the gold medal. Cook Islands finished third at the tournament.
From 2017 onwards Oceania Championships were no longer held at senior level with nations from the Asia and Oceania zones both competing in the Asia Cup. Australia and New Zealand who are the clear-cut strongest two nations in the Oceania zone are able to face stronger opposition and a wider variety of opponents and playing styles competing in the Asia Cup.
At the 2017 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 27 to 29 October the Australian team comprised of Isabelle Bourne, Sarah McAppion, Chantella Perera and Carlie Smith were undefeated in their five games to win the gold medal. In the final 9th seeds Australia defeated 6th seeds Malaysia 21-15. China defeated India 21-12 in the bronze medal game. Australian 16-year-old Bourne was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2017 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup.
The 2018 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup held in Shenzen, China from April 27 to May 1 featured an epic encounter between trans-Tasman rivals Australia and New Zealand. After their semi-final went to overtime New Zealand guard Micaela Cocks made a two point shot to secure a 20-18 victory over Australia. The New Zealand team comprised of Cocks, Antonia Farnworth, Chevannah Paalvast and Kalani Purcell defeated host nation China 14-11 in the final to win the gold medal. In the bronze medal game the Australian team comprised of Bec Cole, Keely Froling, Maddie Garrick and Carlie Smith had a convincing victory over Japan 17-5. Cocks was named the tournament’s MVP and was joined in the team of the tournament by Australia captain Cole. Australia’s record at the tournament was seven wins and one loss, winning both games in the qualifying draw to progress to the main draw where they had a record of four wins and one loss.
At the 2019 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup held in Changsha, China from 22 to 26 May the Australian team comprised of Cole, Alice Kunek, Maddie Garrick and Hanna Zavecz won all five games, comprehensively defeating Kazakhstan 20-9 in the final to win the gold medal. Japan defeated Mongolia 21-14 in the third place game to win the bronze medal. Australian guard Cole was named the tournament’s MVP.
Australia had a new look team of Anneli Maley, Lauren Mansfield, Lauren Scherf and Marena Whittle at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup held in Singapore from 6 to 10 July. The three medal winners from the 2018 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup – New Zealand (gold medal), China (silver medal) and Australia (bronze medal) all faced difficult draws at the 2022 tournament as they were the three nations all drawn in Pool C. Australia split their Pool games, winning their opening game against New Zealand 21-11 and were defeated by China 20-12. Australia won their quarter final against Mongolia 21-10 and had a 21-13 victory over Indonesia in the semi finals. The two nations from Pool C that progressed to the knockout stage – China and Australia played each other in the final. With the gold medal on the line it was a closer encounter than their Pool game but China prevailed against Australia for the second time at the tournament, recording a 14-10 victory to win the gold medal with Australia winning silver and finishing in the medals for the fourth consecutive FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup. In the battle for third place Indonesia defeated Japan 21-17 to win the bronze medal.
Australia have been the most successful nation at the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup in both the men’s and women’s tournament despite not being eligible to play in the 2013 tournament. Australia have won the men’s tournament three times and women’s tournament twice with the women winning in 2017 and 2019. The Australian men have won the gold medal at the previous three editions of the tournament in 2018, 2019 and 2022. Australia have competed at four 3×3 Asia Cup’s and at each tournament both the women and men have won medals. The Australian women’s team have won two gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal. At the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup the Australian men’s teams medal tally is three gold and one bronze. Australia is the only nation to win multiple gold medals at the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup.
The members of the Australian men’s team at the 2023 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup are Daniel Johnson, Andrew Steel, Lucas Walker and Todd Blanchfield. Steel and Johnson were both members of the Australian team that won gold at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup. In 2022/23 Blanchfield and Johnson played the traditional five on five format of basketball in the NBL for Perth Wildcats and Adelaide Lightning respectively. Walker was a member of the Australian Boomers team that won a gold medal in five on five basketball at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Queensland Australia. The Australian men’s team are in Pool B at the 2023 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup and on Friday 31 March play New Zealand at 9.00pm AEDT (11.20pm NZT) and Japan at 11.20pm (1.20AM NZT).
Player profiles of the Australian women’s Gangurrus team at the 2023 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup
#24 Position: Forward
Date of birth 1 September 1998 Height 186cm
Junior Club Eltham Wildcats (Victoria)
WNBL debut: 2016/17 WNBL games played: 87
2022/23 WNBL Team: Bendigo Spirit
Anneli Maley played her junior basketball with the Eltham Wildcats and has also represented Eltham at senior level in the NBL1 South conference in 2021 and 2022. At under-age level Maley represented Australia at several tournaments including Under 17 and Under 19 World Championships. Maley was a member of the Australian Gems team that won a bronze medal at the 2015 Under 19 FIBA World Championships held in Chekhov, Russia. Maley is an exceptional rebounder and at the 2017 FIBA Under 19 World Cup held in Italy led the sixth placed Gems for rebounds and ranked fourth overall at the tournament in this category.
Maley joined WNBL club Adelaide Lightning in December 2016, two months after the 2016/17 season started and made her debut in the league at 18 years of age. The following month in an Adelaide Lightning victory on the road against the Dandenong Rangers on 8 January 2017 Maley fell just short of recording a double-double, scoring 16 points and taking a team-high nine rebounds. Maley played 12 WNBL games for Adelaide Lightning in 2016/17 and averaged 3.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Playing off the bench for Adelaide Maley finished in the top five of the WNBL’s 2016/17 Rookie of the Year Award.
Anneli Maley playing for Adelaide Lightning against Dandenong Rangers at Dandenong Stadium on 8 January 2017
In the United States of America Maley played one season of college basketball for the Oregon Ducks in 2017/18, playing 37 games off the bench. Against Southern Utah on 9 December 2017 Maley scored an equal season-high nine points, made two of three three-pointers, took a season-high eight rebounds and made two assists in 15 minutes court-time. After the 2017/18 college season Maley transferred from Oregon to Texas Christian University (TCU). Maley played 10 games for TCU including three as a starter in 2018/19 before returning to Australia during the Christmas break.
During the 2019/20 WNBL season Maley played for the Southside Flyers. In a Southside 81-62 victory against Townsville Fire at Dandenong Stadium on 13 December Maley started on the bench and recorded a double-double comprised of 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes and eight seconds court-time. Maley played 25 games for the Southside Flyers off the bench in 2019/20, averaging 2.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 10.0 minutes per game.
Anneli Maley playing for Southside Flyers against Bendigo Spirit at Traralgon Stadium on 26 October 2019
During the 2020 WNBL hub season Maley flourished in a starting role with the Sydney Uni Flames. In each of Sydney’s last 11 games of the season Maley took at least eight rebounds and took more than 13 rebounds in a game six times. In Sydney’s 73-67 victory against Perth on 23 November Maley took 20 rebounds to set the season-high by a player in a single-game during the 2020 WNBL season. Maley was a revelation during the 2020 season for Sydney to average 7.9 points, a league-leading 12.1 rebounds per game and 29.6 minutes court-time per game whilst also impressing with her defense. At 186 centimetres tall Maley consistently battles for rebounds against bigger bodies, however with the ability to read the flight of the ball superbly, together with great body positioning and timing Maley averaged 8.4 defensive rebounds and 3.7 offensive rebounds per game in 2020 to lead the WNBL in both categories. Highlighting how dominant Maley’s rebounding was her 12.1 rebounds per game during the 2020 regular season was 31.5% more than the second ranked player in the league – Australian Opals teammate Cayla George with 9.2 rebounds per game.
Anneli is from a basketball family, her dad Paul Maley played 270 NBL games from 1990 to 2001, was part of North Melbourne’s 1994 Championship winning team and during his first two NBL seasons in 1990 and 1991 averaged a double-double for the entire season. After his playing career ended Paul has held several sports related roles and has worked at Basketball Australia from April 2015, he has had the role of Executive General Manager, Basketball since March 2019.
On 4 May 2021 Bendigo Spirit announced that Maley had signed with the club for the next two seasons. In early May 2021 Maley told the Bendigo Advertiser “The next step for me is being more of a threat offensively. In the NBL1 I’m able to put my offensive game in play, and I think I’m capable of doing that at the next level, but the key for me is doing it more consistently. Putting more scoreboard pressure on the opposition and being confident to take shots is what I’m working on. It would be cool to be known as not just a rebounder. I want to be an offensive threat as well.”2
In Bendigo Spirit’s fourth game of the 2021/22 season on 22 December Maley put on a shooting exhibition against the University of Canberra Capitals to score a career-high 38 points, made 14 of 20 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 70% and was even more effective from long-range, making five of six three-pointers at an astronomical accuracy of 83.3% to surpass her previous career-high of four three’s made in a season in a single incredible game. Against the Capitals in Round 4 at the National Convention Centre Maley took a game-high 20 rebounds comprised of nine offensive and 11 defensive. For her incredible Round 4 game against the Capitals Maley was named the WNBL’s Player of the Week. Maley’s 38 points against the Capitals was the most scored by a player in a WNBL game during the 2021/22 season.
Playing as a forward for Bendigo Spirit during the 2021/22 WNBL season Maley well and truly developed into an offensive threat, averaging a league-leading 19.8 points per game – a phenomenal 250% improvement on her previous season’s output. Maley averaged 15.7 rebounds per game in 2021/22 to again lead the WNBL in this category and also led the league for free-throws made and minutes played. Throughout the 2021/22 season Maley was remarkably consistent, scoring at least 13 points in 15 of her 16 games for Bendigo and fell a solitary point short of recording a double-double in every game. Maley was recognised for her incredible season, winning the 2021/22 Suzy Batkovic Medal for being the WNBL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and was also named in the All-WNBL first team.
To celebrate Maley winning the WNBL’s 2021/22 Suzy Batkovic medal for being the league’s Most Valuable Player an article comprehensively covering Maley’s incredible career was published on 5 May 2022. A link to this article is below:
As a teenager Maley was a member of the Australian team that won the gold medal at the 2015 FIBA 3×3 Oceania Championships held on the Gold Coast. From 2019 onwards Maley has competed in several NBL 3×3 Pro Hustle events and has had success playing on teams with her partner, Marena Whittle. At the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup Maley and Whittle were members of the Australian team that won the silver medal, Maley was named in the Team of the Tournament.
During an interview on the 20 April 2021 NBL1 Show episode co-host Peter Hooley asked Maley “You do a lot of 3×3 stuff, part of the National squad for Australia in 3×3. What is the carry-over from a 3×3 game, training and preparation for that and then you go and play in a normal NBL1 game, anything that carries over or do you treat them both completely different?” Maley responded “I think that since I have started 3×3 my five on five game has excelled. I think that it really gives you the tools to be able to work on those one on one break-down stuff. It like levelled up my offensive game like nothing else, I think that when you are training for 3×3 obviously there is like no fouls it is very physical and fast-paced and you can’t hide your weaknesses. It is a fast-paced game so when you get it you have to be able to shoot, you have to be able drive, you have to be able to pass. In the 3×3 trainings and the games that we play against each other and stuff, I think that it has equipped me with the skills to carry over to five on five. The more 3×3 I do the more comfortable I feel with my one on one game in a five on five situation as well as the fitness that you get from a 3×3 game and the ability to finish through physicality, there’s just so many benefits that I carry over from one to the other.”
In May 2022 Maley attended WNBA team Chicago Sky’s training camp. After being waived by Chicago Maley was signed as a hardship exception player due to several of Chicago’s players being injured or overseas due to other playing commitments. Maley played four regular season games for Chicago, averaging 2.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 11.0 minutes per game, before being waived when the players on Chicago’s roster returned.
On 31 May 2022 Maley made her debut with Australia’s senior women’s basketball team, the Opals in game three of the friendly series against Japan. Despite not being part of the Opals training camp due to her WNBA commitments with Chicago Sky and missing the first two games of the series Maley fitted in seamlessly. Immediately after being substituted in for her Opals debut at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre Maley took an offensive rebound off a missed free-throw and scored a field goal. Maley finished the game with 11 points and seven rebounds.
During the 2021 NBL1 South season Maley averaged 17.3 points and a league-leading 23.4 rebounds per game for her home club the Eltham Wildcats. After her stint playing in the WNBA with Chicago Sky and making her Opals debut against Japan in late May Maley joined the Eltham Wildcats during the 2022 NBL1 South season. Maley played eight games for Eltham and averaged 21.5 points, 19.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Maley led the NBL1 South Conference for rebounds per game, ranked third in assists and ninth in scoring.
At the 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup held in Sydney from 22 September to 1 October 2022 Maley made her major championship debut for the Opals. Against Mali in Australia’s second group game Maley made a three-pointer, took three rebounds and made one assist. Maley was a member of the bronze medal winning Opals team and played in five of Australia’s eight games for the tournament.
In their road game against Townsville on 2 December 2022 at the Townsville Entertainment Centre Bendigo trailed 60-63 with four minutes and 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. For the remainder of the quarter Maley made a lay-up and a three pointer to play an influential role in Bendigo going on an 8-3 run and winning 68-66. Maley took a game-high 16 rebounds – eight more than the second ranked player for the game. Two days later in a Bendigo home game against Sydney at Red Energy Arena Maley made 11 of 19 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 57.9% scored a game-high 26 points and took 11 rebounds in the Spirit’s 77-60 victory. Maley was named the WNBL’s Round 4 Player of the Round.
Anneli Maley playing for Bendigo Spirit in a pre-season game against Southside Flyers at Dandenong Stadium on 22 October 2022
Against Adelaide Lightning on 28 December at Adelaide 36ers Arena Maley played all 40 minutes scored a team-high 19 points and was a monster on the boards, taking a game-high 24 rebounds comprised of nine offensive and 15 defensive in Bendigo’s 78-66 victory and was named the WNBL’s Round 8 Player of the Round.
Maley played all 21 games for Bendigo during the 2022/23 regular season and averaged 16.2 points (ranked 9th in the WNBL), 11.0 rebounds (ranked 2nd), 2.1 assists, 1.7 steals (ranked equal 10th), 3.5 free-throws made (ranked 4th) and 34.2 minutes (ranked 4th) per game.
Anneli Maley playing for Bendigo Spirit against the Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 6 January 2023
On 17 February 2023 WNBA club Chicago Sky announced that Maley had signed a 2023 training camp contract with the club. Maley played four WNBA games for Chicago as a hardship exception player in 2022 before being waived.
WNBL Achievements: Suzy Batkovic medal winner 2021/22
All-WNBL first-team 2021/22
WNBL leading rebounder Award 2020, 2021/22
WNBL leading scorer Award 2021/22
Lauren Mansfield
#5 Position: Guard
DOB 18 December 1989 Height 170cm
Junior Club North Adelaide Rockets (South Australia)
WNBL debut: 2012/13 WNBL games played: 176
2022/23 WNBL Team: Adelaide Lightning
Lauren Mansfield grew up in South Australia, played her junior basketball with the North Adelaide Rockets and went on to play her first two WNBL seasons with her home state club, the Adelaide Lightning in 2012/13 and 2013/14. Mansfield is half-way through a two year deal with Adelaide Lightning and is playing for North Adelaide Rockets in the 2023 NBL1 Central season.
Mansfield played two seasons of college basketball in the United States of America for Midland Community College in 2008/09 and 2009/10. In 2010/11 and 2011/12 Mansfield played college basketball for Iowa State University. Playing as a point guard Mansfield made 61 starts in 64 games. In 2012 Mansfield captained the Iowa State Cyclones and was named in the Academic All-Big 12 Second team. During her two seasons at Iowa Mansfield had at least five assists in a game 26 times.
At World University Games Mansfield has been a member of two medal winning teams for Australia, winning a bronze medals in 2009 and 2013. In 2016 Mansfield was named in the Australian Opals extended 27 player squad.
At the 2017 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in the traditional five on five format held in India Mansfield played all six games for the silver medal winning Opals and was Australia’s equal leader for assists along with Katie Ebzery, ranked second for minutes played behind Ebzery and ranked equal third for steals and sixth for rebounds. After being named in the Australian Opals 12 player team for the 2018 FIBA World Cup in Spain Mansfield was a late withdrawal due to a foot injury.
Lauren Mansfield playing for UC Capitals against the Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 17 December 2016
At expansion club SEQ Stars first and only WNBL season in 2015/16 Mansfield had a break-out season as the Stars starting point guard to average 15.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game – ranked second in the WNBL behind Kelly Wilson. Due to an ankle injury Mansfield missed the final two rounds of the 2015/16 regular season as well as the finals.
Mansfield has played a total of 176 WNBL games in eight seasons comprised of 69 games for Adelaide Lightning, 21 games for SEQ Stars, 24 games for the UC Capitals, 42 games for Perth Lynx and 20 games for the Sydney Uni Flames. Mansfield was Sydney’s co-captain for both her seasons with the club however a calf injury ended her 2021/22 season after seven games.
In four WNBL seasons Mansfield has averaged at least 13.0 points and 4.4 assists per game – 2015/16 with the SEQ Stars, 2016/17 with the University of Canberra Capitals and in the last two WNBL seasons with the Sydney Uni Flames in 2020 and 2021/22. A decade after commencing her WNBL career with Adelaide Lightning in 2012/13 Mansfield returned to her home state club for a second stint, signed a two-year deal with Adelaide for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons.
After attending several training camps as part of the Australian 3×3 squad Mansfield made her debut for Australia’s national 3×3 women’s team at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup held in Singapore from 6 to 10 July. The Australian team comprised of Mansfield, Anneli Maley, Lauren Scherf and Marena Whittle had three wins and two losses at the tournament to win the silver medal. Australia’s two losses were both against China, in a Pool C game and in the final.
Weeks after the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup Mansfield represented Australia in the women’s 3×3 tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham from 29 July to 2 August. The Australian team comprised of Mansfield, Scherf, Whittle and Ally Wilson won their three pool games to advance to the semi finals. In a semi final Australia were defeated by England 15-21. In the bronze medal game Australia trailed New Zealand 6-10. Australia went on a 9-3 run to fight back and have a 15-13 victory to win the bronze medal.
In 2021 and 2022 Mansfield played for the Gold Coast Rollers in the NBL1 North conference. During 2022 Mansfield played 11 games for the Gold Coast Rollers and averaged 19.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
During the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season Mansfield returned to her home state of South Australia and was teammates at Adelaide Lightning with Australian 3×3 teammate Whittle. In a Round 3 Adelaide home game at Adelaide 36ers Arena on 19 November Mansfield put on a shooting exhibition against Sydney Flames to score a game-high 23 points at 88.9% from the field, took three rebounds and made an equal team-high four assists in Adelaide’s 87-67 victory. Amazingly Mansfield made all seven three-point attempts for the game which earnt her the WNBL’s Round 3 Player of the Round.
Lauren Mansfield playing for Adelaide Lightning against the Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2022
Mansfield played all 21 games for Adelaide in 2022/23 and averaged 11.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists (ranked sixth in the WNBL) per game. Mansfield’s 2.3 three-pointers per game ranked equal sixth in the league.
Mansfield is playing for the North Adelaide Rockets during the 2023 NBL1 Central season and was named the Conference’s Round 3 Player of the Week for her 24 point, nine rebound and eight assist performance for the Rockets in a 80-65 victory against Central Districts on 25 March.
Marena Whittle
#21 Position: Guard/Forward
DOB 28 January 1994 Height 180cm
Junior Club Nunawading (Victoria)
WNBL debut: 2018/19 WNBL games played: 95
2022/23 WNBL Team: Adelaide Lightning
Marena Whittle commenced her junior career with the Nunawading Spectres in metropolitan Melbourne and later on represented the Spectres at State League level, earning SEABL (now NBL1 South) All-Star five selection with Nunawading in both 2017 and 2018.
In a four-season college career with North Dakota State University from 2012/13 to 2015/16 Whittle averaged 11.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocked shots per game. Whittle led the Summit League with 10.3 rebounds per game in her senior season in 2015/16 and was named in the All-Summit League First Team.
For the 2017/18 WNBL season Whittle was on Townsville’s roster but due to injury was unable to play a game during the season. On 13 October 2018 Whittle made her WNBL debut for the Bendigo Spirit against the Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre and excelled, scoring a team-high 21 points.
From April 2018 onwards Whittle has been very successful on the 3×3 circuit, in a 13 month period from April 2018 to April 2019 Marena represented Spectres i-Athletic in six tournaments with the team winning four tournaments including the first two NBL Pro Hustle Events, and finished on the podium in the other two events. During May 2019 Whittle represented Australia in 3×3 basketball in the FIBA 3×3 World Cup Qualifier 2019 tournament which Australia won, and since then has won several 3×3 tournaments on the Australian domestic circuit. Whittle has had success at several 3×3 tournaments playing on the same team as her partner and fellow Australian representative Anneli Maley including having won two Pro Hustle events as teammates.
At the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup held in Singapore from 6 to 10 July Whittle was a member of the Australian team along with Mansfield, Maley, and Scherf. Australia had three wins and two losses at the tournament to win the silver medal. Australia’s two losses were both against China, in a Pool C game and in the final.
Less than a month later Whittle, Mansfield, Scherf, and Ally Wilson represented Australia at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham from 29 July to 2 August. Australia won their three pool games to advance to the semi finals where they were defeated by England 15-21. In the bronze medal game Australia trailed New Zealand 6-10. Australia went on a 9-3 run to fight back and have a 15-13 victory to win the bronze medal.
In late March 2019 Whittle told 3x3hustle.com “I love 3×3 because there’s so much freedom on the court and everyone matters, and gets the chance to play with the basketball and to have an impact in one way or another. I find in 5×5 that you can kind of get by just being a role player but in 3×3 there’s nowhere to hide out there. I love it because on every play and in every game you need to make an impact. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with that but I also have so much fun with it because there’s so much freedom and that’s how I like to play. The girls that are successful in 3×3 probably play quite similarly to that. I found that not only was 3×3 a lot of fun but it just adds a different dynamic to the game of basketball and I really enjoyed it.”3
Marena Whittle shooting a free-throw for the Bendigo Spirit against the Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 13 October 2018
After not playing a game in 2017/18 due to injury Whittle has played 95 consecutive WNBL games, having represented Bendigo Spirit in 2018/19, Perth Lynx in 2019/20 and Adelaide Lightning from 2020 to 2022/23. In her first three WNBL seasons Whittle averaged at least 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Whittle ranked second at Adelaide in 2020 for rebounding (5.3 rpg) and steals (1.2 spg), fifth for scoring and minutes played and led the Lightning with 1.9 offensive rebounds per game. Predominantly playing off the bench for Adelaide Lightning in 2021/22 Whittle ranked fourth for her club in rebounding (4.0 rpg) and third for steals averaging 16.7 minutes per game.
Whittle played her second consecutive NBL1 South season with the Ringwood Hawks in 2022. Ringwood had 18 wins and four losses during the 2022 regular season to finish second, two wins behind the Bendigo Braves. In the NBL1 South Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre on 3 September 2022 Ringwood defeated Bendigo 89-73 to win the South Conference women’s championship. In the Grand Final victory Whittle played the full 40 minutes for Ringwood, scored a game-high 33 points, made 13 of 22 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 59.1%, made both three-point attempts and five of six free-throws at an accuracy of 83.3%. Whittle took a game-high 19 rebounds comprised of eight offensive and 11 defensive, made four assists and an equal team-high two steals. In the Grand Final win Whittle registered an outright season-high in scoring and an equal season-high for rebounds and won the Grand Final Most Valuable Player Award.
Including finals Whittle played 21 games for the Ringwood Hawks during the 2022 NBL1 South season, averaging 21.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.7 steals per game. In 19 of 21 games Whittle scored at least 17 points and she registered 12 double-doubles for the season including all three finals. Whittle ranked second in the NBL1 South Conference for steals and in the top 12 for points and rebounds. Whittle was selected in the 2022 NBL1 South women’s All-Star 5, to earn Victorian State League All-Star 5 honours for the third time in her career, having been selected in the SEABL All-Star 5 in 2017 and 2018 whilst playing for the Nunawading Spectres.
Whittle played her third consecutive season with Adelaide Lightning in 2022/23 and was teammates with fellow Australian 3×3 team member Lauren Mansfield. Whittle played all 21 games for Adelaide during the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season including 11 games as a starter. Whittle flourished in a starting role late in the season and in each of Adelaide’s last four games of the season scored at least 16 points including three games with more than 21 points. Whittle registered four double-doubles for the season including a 27 point, 14 rebound performance to set game-highs in both categories against the UC Capitals on 18 February at the National Convention Centre. In Adelaide’s 78-72 victory against the Capitals Whittle made 10 of 15 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 66.7% and made three of six three-pointers at 50%.
Marena Whittle playing for Adelaide Lightning against the Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2022
During the 2022/23 WNBL season Whittle averaged 12.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game to set new career-highs in all three categories. Averaging 25.8 minutes per game Whittle ranked 15th in the league for rebounds per game.
In the 2023 NBL1 South season Whittle is playing her third consecutive season with the Ringwood Hawks.
Ally Wilson
#4 Position: Guard
DOB 21 March 1994 Height 175cm
Junior Club Eastern Mavericks (South Australia)
WNBL debut: 2010/11 WNBL games played: 204
2022/23 WNBL Team: Bendigo Spirit
Ally Wilson is a proud Ngarrindjeri woman and one of over 10 players with Indigenous and First Nations heritage that played in the league during the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season. In an article published by The Pick and Roll on 14 February 2023 for the WNBL’s Indigenous Round held in Round 14 Wilson told Tristan Prentice “Indigenous round is very special to me as it gives an opportunity to celebrate Indigenous culture and be proud of that. At the same time – it is also an opportunity to highlight and bring awareness to the issues that Indigenous people face and provide education around the history of our people.”4
Ally Wilson was born in Murray Bridge, South Australia and started playing basketball at four years of age. Wilson played her junior basketball with the Eastern Mavericks and was a teammate of 2020 WNBL Most Valuable Player Steph Talbot in the under 16’s and beyond. The Eastern Mavericks girls under 16’s team were runners up at the 2009 National Championships. At the 2013 Australian Under 20 Championships Wilson was part of South Australia’s silver medal winning team and had an exceptional tournament to win the Bob Staunton Medal as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).
At 16 years of age Wilson made her WNBL debut with Adelaide Lightning in 2010/11 and played three games for the season. From 2011 to 2013 Wilson was an AIS Scholarship holder, another scholarship holder in 2011 and 2012 was current Bendigo Spirit teammate Abbey Wehrung. At the 2013 FIBA Under 19 World Championships held in Lithuania from 18 – 28 July Wilson was a member of the bronze medal winning Jayco Australian Gems team. Wilson averaged 13.0 points per game, (ranked third for the Gems), 7.0 rebounds (second), 3.0 assists (third) and 24.4 minutes (fourth). At the 2017 World University Games held in Taipei in August Wilson and current Bendigo Spirit teammates Megan McKay and Wehrung were members of the Emerging Opals team that won the gold medal, defeating Japan 85-78 in the final.
Playing for the Townsville Fire in 2013/14 Wilson won the WNBL’s Rookie of the Year Award, averaging 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. Wilson was a member of Townsville’s WNBL Championship winning team in 2014/15.
From 2015/16 to 2019/20 Wilson played five consecutive WNBL seasons with the Sydney Uni Flames, winning a WNBL Championship with the Flames in 2016/17. In 2016/17 Wilson averaged 11.5 points per game and made 53 of 152 three-pointers at an accuracy of 34.9%. Wilson made 1.9 three-pointers per game – ranked ninth in the WNBL.
Ally Wilson playing for the Sydney Uni Flames against the Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 26 November 2017
In 2017/18 Wilson made more than 50 three-pointers for the second season in a row, made 52 of 151 three-pointers at an accuracy of 34.4%. Wilson averaged a then career-high 12.1 points per game and her 2.3 made three-pointers per game ranked equal third in the WNBL.
In Sydney’s 10th game of the 2018/19 season Wilson suffered on a season ending knee injury. Wilson averaged 12.6 points per game and ranked fourth in the WNBL with 2.2 three-pointers made per game. Wilson set a new career-high with 3.9 assists per game -ranked eighth in the WNBL.
Ally Wilson playing for the Sydney Uni Flames against the Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 30 November 2019
At state league level Wilson has excelled, playing for the Launceston Tornadoes Wilson was named in the All-SEABL team in both 2016 and 2018. Playing for the Eastern Mavericks in the Adelaide Premier League in 2017 Wilson averaged 26.9 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, won the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award and was named in the All-Star Five. After being out for five months with her knee injury Wilson made her return in Victoria in April 2019 with Diamond Valley Eagles during the 2019 NBL1 (now NBL1 South) season.
During the 2019/20 regular season playing for the Sydney Uni Flames Wilson made 34 three-pointers, ranked equal 8th in the WNBL. In the 2020 Hub season playing for Adelaide Lightning Wilson averaged 11.3 points, 4.3 assists (equal fifth in the WNBL) and 2.0 three-pointers made (equal fifth in the WNBL).
Wilson joined Bendigo Spirit after the 2021/22 WNBL season commenced and was teammates with fellow Australian 3×3 team member Anneli Maley. Playing 12 games for Bendigo in 2021/22 Wilson averaged 8.8 points and 2.6 assists per game.
Ally Wilson playing for Bendigo Spirit against the Melbourne Boomers at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville on 6 March 2022
Wilson had been on the fringe of Australian selection, having been named in Australian Opals squads including for the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup and in addition to attending Opals training camps had also been part of Australia’s 3×3 squad. In July 2022 Wilson was able to represent Australia in 3×3 basketball at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham. The Australian 3×3 team comprised of Wilson, Perth centre Lauren Scherf and Adelaide Lightning duo Marena Whittle and Lauren Mansfield won the bronze medal.
In August 2022 Wilson commented to The Pick and Roll on becoming a member of the Australian 3×3 squad, saying “Honestly, I was invited into the 3×3 Australian Squad at the beginning of last year by the coaches who had watched me play WNBL and thought my style of game suited 3×3. I went to my first camp not really knowing what to expect! The first camp was challenging because it really is such a different style of game from 5×5. The more I have played 3×3, I have fallen in love with it more and more.”5
On the style of play in 3×3 and how it has helped her in the traditional five on five format of basketball Wilson told The Pick and Roll “3×3 is super tough and they don’t really call fouls! So, it has made me tougher in that sense with finishing under contact and being more physical defensively. The style of play is super quick with only having 12 seconds to shoot the ball, so it has helped with getting my shot off quicker under pressure and making quick decisions.”6
Ally Wilson driving to the basket playing for Bendigo Spirit against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 6 January 2023
In a 7Sport television segment recorded at the Commonwealth Games Wilson commented “I am a proud Ngarrindjeri woman from South Australia. We have the aboriginal flag obviously and then the blue flag is the flag of my mob. Really special for me to have that out with the girls and I said to them after the game that I appreciate their love and support and holding it up, it means a lot to me and my people, yeah it means everything.”
Later in the 7Sport segment Wilson commented “Yeah, love being in the village in this environment and getting to meet people from so many different places. My path hasn’t always been easy, been told no a lot so it is all about that perseverance and resilience. Obviously getting to play with these girls is the highlight. Never give up, I know that is so cliché but that’s sort of been a big part of my story.”
Wilson played her second consecutive season with the Norwood Flames in the NBL1 Central Conference in 2022. Wilson played 15 games for Norwood and averaged 19.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game. Wilson led the NBL1 Central conference for assists per game, ranked second for steals and ninth in scoring. With her superb 2022 season Wilson earnt selection in the 2022 NBL 1 Central All-Star Five.
During the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season Wilson played her second consecutive WNBL season with Bendigo Spirit. In Bendigo’s first game of Round 11 against the UC Capitals at Red Energy Arena on 19 January Wilson scored 18 points shooting at 46.7% from the field, took five rebounds, made five assists and had an equal team-high two steals in the Spirit’s 86-74 victory. In Bendigo’s road game against Melbourne Boomers at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville on 22 January Wilson scored 10 points, took five rebounds and made seven assists. Wilson was recognised for her excellent performances with selection in the WNBL’s Round 11 Team of the Week. In a seven game stretch from 6 to 25 January Wilson averaged 5.6 assists per game and had at least five assists in a game six times.
Ally Wilson playing for Bendigo Spirit against the Melbourne Boomers at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville on 22 January 2023
Wilson played her 200th WNBL game on 5 February in Bendigo’s road game against Melbourne at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville and achieved another milestone in the game by recording the 500th assist of her career. Below is a link to an article published on Milestones and Misses celebrating Wilson achieving these two milestones:
Wilson played all 21 games for Bendigo in 2022/23 and averaged 11.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 30.3 minutes court-time per game. Wilson ranked equal 14th in the league with 1.6 three-pointers made per game and ranked 13th for assists per game.
WNBL Achievements: Betty Watson Rookie of the Year 2013/14
WNBL Championship 2014/15 (with Townsville Fire), 2016/17 (with Sydney Uni Flames)
Article and photographs by Dean Andrews
Twitter – @DeanAndrews7777
References
1 https://olympics.com/en/sports/3×3-basketball/
3 https://www.3x3hustle.com/news/whittle-thrives-on-pressure-to-perform-in-3×3/
4 https://pickandroll.com.au/p/awareness-and-opportunities-cubillo
5 https://pickandroll.com.au/p/games-flames-and-spirit-its-been
6 https://pickandroll.com.au/p/games-flames-and-spirit-its-been
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
Steph Reid
Jenna O’Hea
Ally Wilson
Sara Blicavs
Carley Ernst
Kiera Rowe
Chelsea Brook
Sami Whitcomb
Abbey Wehrung
Penny Taylor
Rachel Jarry
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
Milestones and misses 