As a starter for the Deakin Melbourne Boomers in the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season Mia Murray ranked in the league’s top 10 for three-pointers made per game in her 16th and final WNBL season. Murray’s career highlights include playing in three WNBL Championships with Townsville Fire in 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2017/18. In the first of these Grand Final victories in 2014/15 Murray scored a game-high 23 points shooting at 50% from the field and won the Rachael Sporn Medal for being the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the Grand Final.
At the end of her career Murray ranks 13th on the WNBL’s All Time games list, having played 342 games across four teams comprised of 46 games for the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) from 2005/06 to 2007/08, 68 games for Adelaide Lightning from 2008/09 to 2010/11, 207 games over two stints for Townsville Fire and 21 games for the Melbourne Boomers in her final WNBL season in 2022/23. Murray played seven consecutive seasons for Townsville from 2011/12 to 2017/18. Murray had a son Sidney in October 2019 and didn’t play in the WNBL in 2018/19 or 2019/20. Murray returned to play for Townsville Fire in the 2020 and 2021/22 WNBL seasons.
Throughout her career 182 centimetre tall Murray mainly played as a small forward or shooting guard. Murray made a total of 429 three-pointers during her career, ranked first among players that played in the 2022/23 WNBL season, ahead of Kelly Wilson on 396 career three-pointers made. In 11 seasons Murray ranked in the WNBL’s top 20 for three-pointers made per game.
At each of the four WNBL teams Murray played for she spent time as teammates with fellow South Australian Cayla George (nee Francis), with the duo being teammates in nine seasons. Murray and George both made their WNBL debuts with the Australian Institute of Sport in 2005/06 and were teammates for the first five WNBL seasons of their careers comprised of three seasons at the AIS and two seasons for Adelaide Lightning. In each of Townsville’s first three WNBL Championship winning seasons Murray and George were teammates. During 2022/23 playing for the Deakin Melbourne Boomers Murray and George each set new career-highs for three-pointers made per game.
Mia Murray playing for Melbourne Boomers against Adelaide Lightning at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2022
Mia Murray’s outstanding WNBL career with the Australian Institute of Sport, Adelaide Lightning, Townsville Fire and Melbourne Boomers is covered below.
Early life, junior career and WNBL career with the Australian Institute of Sport
Mia Newley was born on 4 August 1988 in Bedford Park, South Australia and has an older brother Brad. Mia and Brad’s parents Arthur Newley and Janelle Newley (nee Colwell) both played basketball. Arthur represented South Australia at junior and senior level, played state league basketball for West Torrens and also represented West Torrens during the 1980 NBL season. Janelle grew up in Townsville, later moved to South Australia and represented both Queensland and South Australia at senior level.
Mia played junior basketball for the Forestville Eagles and progressed to represent South Australia Metro at Australian Junior Championships, playing in the under 16’s in 2003 and the under 18’s in 2004 and 2005. Mia’s older brother Brad has played 328 games in the NBL, played in Europe and represented Australia at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Mia joined the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra and made her WNBL debut during the 2005/06 season. During the first series of the Basket Case podcast in episode 1:13 Basket Case 13: When Mia hit 200 Carol Wical interviewed Murray days before her 200th WNBL game. Wical asked “Where was game one?” Murray responded “It was actually in Adelaide, so I got myself onto a road trip when I first got to the Australian Institute of Sport and it was on the back end of the season, I think the last two games of the season. Dean Kinsman sort of approached me and said we want to take you on a road trip, (I) obviously jumped at it with open arms. To be able to play the first game in front of mum and dad was really exciting, it wasn’t the result we wanted but it was certainly a lot of fun.”
At 17 years of age Murray made her WNBL debut with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in the team’s penultimate game of the 2005/06 season against Adelaide Lightning on 27 January 2006 in Adelaide at Wayville Sports Centre. On WNBL debut Murray made two of three field goal attempts at an accuracy of 66.7%, made all four free-throw attempts, scored nine points and took two rebounds playing 19 minutes and 15 seconds court-time. Murray’s AIS teammates in her debut game included Cayla George, Katie Ebzery, Emma Langford, Rachel Herrick and Mikaela Dombkins. Mia is sisters-in-law with one of the opposition Adelaide Lightning players from her debut WNBL game, Brigid Bowley married Mia’s brother Brad.
After playing the last two games of the 2005/06 season for the AIS Murray was a fixture in the team across the next two WNBL seasons, playing all 21 games in 2006/07 and 23 of a possible 24 games in 2007/08. Murray made 20 of 52 three-pointers at an accuracy of 38.5% in 2006/07 to rank equal 18th in the WNBL with 1.0 three-pointers made per game. Among players that made at least 10 three-point attempts Murray ranked 12th in the league for three-point accuracy in 2006/07.
Throughout the 2007 FIBA Under 19 Women’s World Championships held in the Slovak Republic from 26 July to 5 August Mia was a member of the Australian Gems team alongside George, Ebzery, Tolo, Hunt, Abby Bishop and future Townsville Fire teammate Kate Gaze. Against the Czech Republic Murray made four of six three-pointers at an accuracy of 66.7%, scored 14 points – ranked second for the Gems behind Bishop (25 points), took three rebounds, made three assists and had an equal team-high two steals in an 89-66 victory.
Australia had seven wins and two losses to finish fifth at the 2007 FIBA Under 19 Women’s World Championships. Murray averaged 7.7 points and 19.7 minutes played per game to rank fifth for the Gems in both categories. Murray made 12 of 24 three-pointers at an accuracy of 50% – ranked equal first at the tournament.
In a home game for the AIS on 12 October 2007 against Christchurch at the AIS Training Hall Murray scored 18 points, took three rebounds, made four assists, one steal and blocked three shots in the AIS’s 82-67 victory. Murray made eight of 13 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 61.5%.
On 19 January 2008 Murray scored an equal game-high 23 points along with teammate Nicole Hunt and made three assists in the AIS’s 95-92 victory against Bendigo Spirit in a home game at the AIS Training Hall. Murray shot the ball proficiently to make 10 of 15 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 66.7%, made two of four three-pointers at 50% and made her only free-throw.
During 2007/08 Murray averaged 10.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game and ranked third for the AIS in scoring behind George (14.7 points per game) and Marianna Tolo (14.6). Five AIS players averaged at least 7.0 points per game with guards Hunt and Ebzery also being in this category. Murray shot the ball proficiently to have a field goal accuracy of 49.7% and made 29 of 71 three-pointers at an accuracy of 40.8%. Among players that made at least 10 attempts Murray ranked 14th in the WNBL for field goal accuracy and equal 13th for three point accuracy. Mia’s 1.3 three-pointers made per game ranked equal 13th in the WNBL among players that played at least five games. After having one win in 2006/07 the AIS improved significantly to have eight wins in 2007/08 and finished ninth out of 10 teams, three wins ahead of Perth.
Playing for Adelaide Lightning in the WNBL from 2008/09 to 2010/11
After graduating from the AIS Murray and George both returned to Adelaide and joined Adelaide Lightning for the 2008/09 WNBL season. More experienced teammates at Adelaide included Jess Foley, Angela Marino, Tracy Gahan and Samantha Woosnam. Murray made 15 of 35 three-pointers at an accuracy of 42.9% in 2008/09 to rank fourth in the WNBL for three-point accuracy among players that had at least 10 attempts. After averaging 5.4 points per game in 2008/09 Murray increased her output to 7.0 points per game in 2009/10.
Adelaide finished fourth on the ladder at the end of the 2008/09 regular season with 15 wins and seven losses. After winning an elimination final against Bendigo 81-73 Adelaide lost to Townsville in a semi final 78-91. Against Townsville Murray made seven of nine field goal attempts at an accuracy of 77.78% and scored 16 points, ranked second for Adelaide.
In Murray’s third season with Adelaide Lightning in 2010/11 she was appointed club captain at just 22 years of age. Against the West Coast Waves in a home game at Adelaide 36ers Arena on 17 October 2010 Murray registered a double-double comprised of 23 points and a team-high 10 rebounds in Adelaide’s 83-74 victory against West Coast Waves. Murray also made an equal team-high five assists, had a game-high four blocked shots and made nine of 16 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 56.3%.
Against Dandenong Rangers in a road game on 13 November 2010 Murray scored a team-high 17 points, took a game-high 11 rebounds, made a team-high five assists and blocked a game-high three shots in a 64-98 loss. Murray made seven of 12 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 58.3%.
Murray played 22 games for Adelaide in 2010/11 and averaged 12.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.4 blocked shots and 31.2 minutes played per game to set new career-highs in all five categories. Murray made 1.23 three-pointers per game which was just below her career-high of 1.26 three-pointers made per game in 2007/08. In 2010/11 Murray ranked equal fifth in the WNBL for blocked shots per game, equal seventh for three-pointers made, 10th for minutes played, 23rd for points per game and equal 27th for rebounds and steals.
During Murray’s three seasons with Adelaide Lightning the club made the finals once, her first season in 2008/09. The Lightning missed the finals in the next two seasons, finishing sixth in 2009/10 and ninth out of 10 teams in 2010/11.
After reaching 300 WNBL games in December 2020 Murray reflected on the opportunity to play three WNBL seasons for Adelaide Lightning, telling WNBL Media “In my early days going back home to Adelaide and playing for the Lightning was special because that was the team I loved growing up. I loved Rachael Sporn, she was always a favourite. Jae Kingi was the point guard and she was cool.’’1
Murray represented Australia at the 2009 World University Games held in Belgrade, Serbia from July 1 to 12, Australia won the bronze medal. Two years later Murray was a member of the Australian team that won a bronze medal at the 2011 World University Games held in Shenzhen, China from 12 to 23 August.
Playing for Townsville Fire from 2011/12 to 2017/18
Murray signed with Townsville Fire for the 2011/12 WNBL season. Point guard Rachael McCully (nee Flanagan) was Townsville’s captain and Chris Lucas was in his first season as Townsville’s Head Coach. Lucas was Adelaide’s Head Coach in three consecutive seasons from 2004/05 to 2006/07 with the club making the WNBL finals in all three seasons. Mia was following in her brother Brad’s footsteps in representing a Townsville team in a national league. Brad had played three seasons in the NBL for the Townsville Crocodiles from 2004/05 to 2006/07.
Townsville Fire had played their inaugural WNBL season in 2001/02 and had made the finals three times in their first 10 seasons in the league. Townsville’s best finish at the end of the regular season had been second in 2002/03 with 15 wins and six losses. In their first two finals campaigns Townsville made the preliminary final in 2002/03 and 2008/09. The Fire also made the semi final in 2009/10. During their first decade in the WNBL from 2001/02 to 2010/11 Townville played six finals and had two wins and four losses.
In Townsville Fire’s home game against Sydney on 23 November 2012 at Townsville Stadium Murray scored a game-high 31 points, took three rebounds, made two assists and blocked a team-high two shots in an 89-81 victory. Murray shot the ball exceptionally to make 11 of 15 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 73.3%, made five of six three-pointers at 83.3% and all four free-throws.
In Murray’s first three seasons with Townsville from 2011/12 to 2013/14 the Fire made the finals and had at least one finals victory in each season. Townsville made the semi final in 2011/12 followed by back-to-back Grand Final losses to Bendigo Spirit 57-71 in 2012/13 and 83-94 in 2013/14. At Townsville Fire’s Awards Murray won the Denis Russell Commitment to Excellence Award in 2012/13 and 2013/14, being a joint winner along with Olivia Levicki (nee Thompson) in the earlier season.
In all three seasons from 2011/12 to 2013/14 Murray and guards Rachael McCully (nee Flanagan) and Micaela Cocks ranked in Townsville’s top five for minutes played per game. Murray ranked fourth at Townsville for points per game in 2011/12 and 2012/13 and sixth in this category in 2013/14. In 2012/13 Murray made 28 of 29 free-throws at an accuracy of 96.6% to rank second in the league behind Lauren Mansfield for free-throw accuracy among players that made at least 10 free-throws. Murray made 14 of 15 free-throws at an accuracy of 93.3% in 2013/14 to again rank second in the league for free throw accuracy among players that made at least 10 free-throws, this time behind Maddie Garrick.
Power forward/centre Suzy Batkovic and shooting guard Steph Blicavs ranked first and second respectively for scoring on the Townsville Fire team that made the WNBL Grand Final in 2013/14. Batkovic won her third consecutive WNBL MVP Award in 2013/14, having won the award the previous two seasons playing for Adelaide Lightning.
In the 2013/14 Grand Final against Bendigo Murray made eight of 13 field goals at an accuracy of 61.5% and scored 18 points – ranked second for Townsville behind Batkovic with 21 points. In all three seasons with Townsville from 2011/12 to 2013/14 Murray averaged more than 7.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 22.0 minutes per game. Murray’s 1.1 three-pointers made per game in 2012/13 ranked equal 13th in the WNBL. In 2013/14 Murray made 31 of 77 three-pointers at an accuracy of 40.3%. Among players that made at least 10 three-pointers in 2013/14 Murray ranked equal 13th for accuracy in the WNBL and her 1.2 three-pointers made per game ranked equal 18th.
For the 2014/15 WNBL season Townsville further strengthened their team with the recruitment of Cayla George. Murray was one of five Townsville players to average more than 26.0 minutes per game in 2014/15 along with Steph Blicavs, Batkovic, McCully and George. Another three Townsville players in Cocks, Jillian Harmon and Ally Wilson each averaged between 13.0 and 21.0 minutes per game.
During a Townsville Fire road trip in January 2015 Murray reached 200 WNBL games, playing game 199 front of family in Adelaide against Adelaide Lightning on 16 January at Adelaide 36ers Arena and her 200th WNBL game against West Coast Waves at Bendat Basketball Centre on 18 January 2015. At a press conference on 14 January Murray commented on her milestone “I have followed the WNBL for a long time and watched it when I was a little girl and it was always a dream to play in that league and to be here 200 games later is pretty special.”
During Basket Case podcast episode 1:13 Basket Case 13: When Mia hit 200 Murray commented on celebrating her 200th WNBL game with her family, saying “It is always great to be able to play in front of mum and dad. Obviously they are my greatest supporters and they did a lot for me to get me this far so I am happy to be able to share it with them even if it is a game early.”
In Townsville’s final game of the 2014/15 regular season Murray scored 15 points and took eight rebounds in an 80-77 victory on the road against Dandenong Rangers on 15 February at Dandenong Stadium. Murray made seven of 14 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 50%.
Townsville finished the 2014/15 regular season on top of the ladder with 17 wins and five losses, two games ahead of Bendigo in second place and five games ahead of Dandenong in third place. In the major semi final at Townsville Stadium on 22 February 2015 Murray scored 14 points and took seven rebounds in Townsville’s 82-63 victory against Bendigo.
In the Grand Final at Townsville Stadium on 8 March Townsville trailed Bendigo 4-12 four minutes into the first term. In the next three and a half minutes Murray made a jump shot and two three-pointers to score eight points and help Townsville take the lead 18-16 with two minutes and 30 seconds to play in the opening term.
Half-way through the second quarter Murray made back-to-back two point jump shots to open up a six point Townsville lead, 41-35 with four minutes and 40 seconds left in the first half. The Fire slightly extended their margin to lead 47-39 at half-time. Bendigo reduced the margin to six points with two minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter. On the next possession Murray made a two point jump shot to get the margin back out to eight points.
Townsville led Bendigo 59-51 at three-quarter time. In the final quarter Murray scored nine points comprised of a three-pointer, a two point jump shot and four free-throws to help Townsville outscore Bendigo 16-14 for the term and have a 75-65 victory against Bendigo to win the 2014/15 WNBL Championship in captain Rachael McCully’s last game. Townsville become the first club based in North Queensland to win a National Championship.
Murray scored a game-high 23 points, took seven rebounds and made three assists to win the Rachael Sporn medal as Grand Final Most Valuable Player (MVP). With the stakes at the highest Murray shot the ball superbly to make eight of 16 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 50%, made three of five three-pointers at 60% and all four free-throws.
In a television interview on ABC after Townsville’s 2014/15 WNBL Grand Final victory Narelle Fletcher asked Murray “How do you describe the emotion you are feeling right at this minute?” Mia responded “The best feeling in the world, you try and wipe this smile off my face for I don’t know how long, everyone in this building is the reason why we wanted this game here today.” Murray commented on Townsville’s Championship winning team “Everyone on that gets along so well off the floor, on the court we battle hard every day at training. We worked way too hard for this today, I am just happy that we got to do it for each other today.”
Fletcher asked “We have just heard from Rachel McCully. There was obviously that little fire burning as well that you all wanted to send her off without making it the focus.” Murray replied “We did and it is very hard to let sentiment get in the way. That’s something that was in the back of our minds, we really wanted to send our captain off in the right way, had to make sure we didn’t let the emotion get to us too much but it is just the best feeling in the world to let someone like Rachael go off on a good note like that.”
Amazingly the top eight players in Townsville’s rotation for court-time – Steph Blicavs, Batkovic, McCully, George, Murray, Harmon, Cocks and Ally Wilson all played every game for the club in 2014/15. In addition to the eight players that played all 24 games for Townsville in 2014/15 Rosie Fadljevic and Kate Gaze each played 18 games and averaged between 5.5 and 6.5 minutes per game and Jacqui Zelenka played seven games.
During 2014/15 Murray averaged 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 26.4 minutes per game. Murray ranked equal third at Townville for rebounding with Harmon, behind Batkovic and George, ranked fourth for scoring and fifth for minutes played. Murray made 1.1 three-pointers per game, ranked equal 21st in the WNBL. At Townsville’s 2014/15 awards Murray won the Players’ Player Award.
At a media conference on 25 March 2015 Townville Fire announced that the club had signed Murray for two seasons. On signing with Townsville again Murray commented “A championship, you couldn’t finish on a better note and thought I had a pretty good season personally and had such an enjoyable year on and off the court it was an easy decision to make.”
Murray said “I think I am a pretty loyal person and the Fire program has done wonders for my game and developing as a person as well, it has been a great move for me to come up to Townsville. I have really thoroughly enjoyed my time here and looking forward to getting even better individually and as a group and hopefully going on to defend the title.”
At the media conference Murray was asked “Chris re-signing, did that play a bit of a role in your decision?” Murray responded “Yeah, he has been great for me. Puts it between the eyes when he tells you what you need to improve on and I like that sort of thing. I think he is upfront with what he wants you to work on and he is very thorough, he is one of the most professional coaches I have ever played under and yeah, I really enjoy playing underneath him.”
On 1 July 2015 Mia married Max Murray in Ayr, approximately 90km southeast from Townsville. Max was Townsville Fire’s physio and played basketball for Townsville Heat in the Queensland Basketball League.
In the week after Mia’s wedding Townsville Bulletin published an article on the impact Mia and her brother Brad Newley had playing basketball in Townsville. Brad commented “It’s awesome to see her doing so well because I know how hard she works, I’ve been around her my whole life. She’s always putting in the extra work and it’s really good to see it pay off. It kinds of feels like I’ve passed the torch to her and she’s taken up where I left off with her legacy in Townsville and it’s really exciting to see this club grow and her grow with it.”2
Mia told the Townsville Bulletin “Brad was a big influence in me coming up here, he told me it was a great place to flourish in your basketball career and that I would get great support from the local community. I’m really proud that I made the move here and that I’ve been able to make an impact on the team. If you’d said to me we were going to win the championship in four years it would’ve been a long shot but it’s been a great move for me and Brad had a big influence on that.”3
Only four of the players ranked in the top eight at Townsville for minutes played in 2014/15 suited up for the club again in 2015/16 – Murray, Batkovic, George and Cocks. McCully retired, Blicavs returned to Dandenong Rangers, Ally Wilson joined Sydney Flames and Harmon played in Europe. Another returning player in Gaze was one of eight Fire players that averaged at least 12.5 minutes per game in 2015/16. Also in this category were a trio of recruits, forward Darcee Garbin and imports Natalie Novosel and Tamara Tatham.
Townsville had three wins and three losses in their first six games of 2015/16. As the season progressed Townsville built momentum and moved up the ladder. In late January 2016 starting small forward Tatham was ruled out for the remainder of the season due to a left shin fracture. Townsville were unable to recruit another player as the window to bring in a replacement player had passed.
Townsville finished the 2015/16 regular season on top of the ladder with 17 wins and seven losses to win their second successive minor premiership. Perth finished in second place with 16 wins and Dandenong and SEQ finished in third and fourth place respectively, each with 15 wins and nine losses. It was the most even regular season since 2005/06 when the top three teams all finished with a record of 14 wins and seven losses. In nine seasons from 2006/07 to 2014/15 the most losses that a minor premier finished the season with was five, being Sydney in 2006/07 and Townsville in 2014/15.
In a major semi final at Townsville Stadium on 28 February Townsville Fire were defeated by Perth Lynx 72-91. Against SEQ Stars in a preliminary final at Townsville Stadium on 8 March Townsville had a 91-71 victory to progress to their fourth consecutive WNBL Grand Final. Murray scored 24 points against SEQ Stars – ranked second for the game behind teammate Batkovic with 31 points, and took four rebounds. Murray made four of eight three-points at an accuracy of 50% and eight of 17 field goal attempts at 47%.
2015/16 was the first season that the WNBL held a best of three game Grand Final series. Perth and Townsville split their four encounters to that point of the season and each team had recorded a win on the road. Due to their major semi final victory Perth had home court advantage, hosting game 1 and game 3 (if required) whilst Townsville hosted game 2.
After trailing by five points at three quarter-time in game 1 Townsville dominated, outscoring Perth 28 points to seven in the final quarter to win 73 points to 57. Game 2 of the Grand Final series followed a similar pattern to game 1 with Perth holding a four point lead at three-quarter time. In the final quarter Perth again proved to be no match for Townsville with the Fire dominating the final term 23-9 to record a 10 point victory, 80 points to 70 to win the 2015/16 WNBL title and make it back-to-back championships. In game 2 Murray scored 16 points, took three rebounds, made an equal game-high four assists and had three steals. Mia made five of ten field goal attempts at an accuracy of 50% and was extremely effective from long range, making all three three-pointers. Micaela Cocks averaged 14.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in the Grand Final series and won the Rachael Sporn medal for being the Grand Final MVP.
In 2015/16 Murray played all 28 games for Townsville and averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, a career-high 2.9 assists, 1.5 three-pointers made and 28.9 minutes per game. Murray led Townsville for three-pointers made per game, ranked third for blocked shots, fourth for minutes played, equal fourth for steals and fifth for scoring and rebounds. Murray ranked equal 11th in the WNBL for three-pointers made per game, making 41 of 108 three-pointers at an accuracy of 38.0%. Among players that attempted at least 10 three-pointers for the season Murray ranked 15tyh in the league for accuracy. Murray won the Players’ Player Award for the second year in a row at Townsville’s 2015/16 awards.
Four of the eight players that played at least 12 minutes per game for Townsville in 2015/16 returned in 2016/17, Murray, Batkovic, Cocks, and Garbin. Chris Lucas after five consecutive seasons as head coach, culminating in back- to-back championships in the last two seasons moved to live in Adelaide for family reasons and was later appointed the Head Coach of the Adelaide Lightning for the 2016/17 season. A critical member of Townsville’s back-to-back championship teams, George joined Hungarian club UNIQA Sopron for the 2016/17 season. Other members of Townsville’s eight player core rotation from 2015/16 that didn’t suit up for the club in 2016/17 were Novosel, Tatham and Gaze.
In April 2016 Claudia Brassard was appointed Townsville’s Head Coach, becoming just the club’s fourth Head Coach. Brassard had been an assistant coach under Lucas for the previous three seasons and a previous captain and club MVP winner at Townsville. Two players that had played for Townsville Fire previously returned to the club for the 2016/17 season, point guard Kelly Wilson and forward Kayla Standish. The club’s core eight player rotation in 2016/17 was completed by imports, guard Natasha Cloud and guard/forward Amy Kame.
Murray opted in for the second year of her two-year contract with Townsville Fire in April 2016. On 5 April 2016 Townsville Fire General Manager Richard Goodbody commented on Murray playing for the club again in 2016/17 “Mia is a class act in every way, she is a tremendous influence on our group and she’s a real heartbeat of our club. She’s a phenomenal player but it’s those intangibles she brings in terms of bringing our group together and making sure that standards are set that meant that she was first on our list to want to bring back for next season.”4
Against the Sydney Uni Flames in a Round 5 home game at Townsville Stadium on 5 November 2016 Townsville trailed by three points with 15 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Murray made a three-pointer with 10 seconds left to tie the scores at 74 points apiece. The scores were 76 all at the end of regulation and the game went to overtime. Townsville went on to win the game 85-83 in the first period of overtime. Murray finished the game with 20 points, took four rebounds, made five assists, two steals and blocked one shot. Murray made eight of 16 field goals at an accuracy of 50%, three of nine three-pointers at 33.3% and was named in the WNBL’s Round 5 Team of the Week.
Mia Murray shooting a free-throw for Townsville Fire against Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 13 November 2016
In Townsville’s first game of a Round 9 road double Murray scored 12 points, took three rebounds and made a game-high seven assists in a 73-80 loss to Perth Lynx at Bendat Basketball Centre on 2 December. In Adelaide for a road game against the Lightning on 3 December 2016 at Adelaide 36ers Arena Murray scored a game-high 26 points, took five rebounds, made two assists, one steal and blocked an equal game-high two shots in a Townsville 72-54 victory. Murray made a game-high five three-pointers from 10 attempts at an accuracy of 50% and made nine of 18 field goals at 50%. For her performances in Townsville’s Round 9 road double Murray was named in the WNBL’s Round 9 Team of the Week.
On 4 February 2017 Murray scored 20 points, took seven rebounds and made six assists in Townsville’s 92-78 Round 17 road victory against the Dandenong Rangers at Dandenong Stadium. Murray made four of eight three pointers at 50% and six of 12 field goals at 50%. The following day Murray scored 22 points, took four rebounds and made three assists in Townsville’s 83-77 victory against Bendigo Spirit. Murray shot the ball proficiently to make seven of 12 field goals at 58.3% and three of six three-pointers at 50%. Murray was recognised for her two Round 17 games with at least 20 points each by being named in the WNBL’s Team of the Week, her third selection in the TOTW of the season.
At the half-way point of the 2016/17 season Townsville had a record of five wins and seven losses and looked to be in serious danger of missing the finals however a strong finish to the season resulted in the Fire winning nine of their last 12 games to make the finals for a sixth consecutive season. Townsville finished in fourth position with 14 wins and 10 losses, four games behind minor premiers, the Sydney Uni Flames and one game behind the Jayco Rangers and Perth Lynx in second and third place respectively. Bendigo and Canberra remained in finals contention until late in the season and each recorded 13 wins and 11 losses.
Murray had the highest scoring output of her WNBL career in 2016/17 and ranked second at Townsville for points per game behind Batkovic. After the end of regular season Murray commented to WNBL Media on her increase in scoring, saying “I’ve always been able to put points on the board. In previous years, we have always had that two-spot filled with a prolific scorer. This year, I feel I’ve had to step up in that capacity. We have got Suzy down low who does her thing night in, night out, and she attracts a lot of attention. That leaves a lane for me, or a shot. It’s about being as aggressive as I can early on, which makes things easier for my teammates and myself.”5
On winning WNBL Championships and having previous finals experience at Townsville Murray commented to wnbl.basketball on 22 February 2017 “The feeling after winning a Grand Final is brilliant; you can’t describe it, that’s what you dream for. Playing in the league for ten years, I’ve always wanted to win a WNBL championship. I’ve got two, but I want more. Winning becomes a habit, you have created those things you do in order to get those wins.”
“I try not to think about the game itself being a final. I’m a person that gets fairly nervous before games, so if I think about the outcome and what’s to be if things don’t go right, then I don’t think you will have a good grasp on the situation. Finals are a whole new intensity and the referees let you be more physical, so it’s about that team that wants it more at the end of the day. Being in the past four Grand Finals, we have gained that experience, so it would be silly not to look back and see what’s worked for us.”6
In the 2016/17 semi finals Townsville were defeated by Sydney Uni Flames two games to nil, they were comprehensively defeated in a road game at Brydens Stadium on 25 February 69-111 in game 1. Townsville were more competitive in game 2 on 3 March 2017 at Townsville Stadium and trailed 48-55 at three quarter time. Townsville were outscored by Sydney 13-21 in the last quarter and lost 61-76. Murray scored 33 points in the semi final series to lead Townsville in scoring, just ahead of Batkovic who scored 32 points. In game 1 Murray scored 17 points, took five rebounds including an equal game-high three offensive rebounds and made two assists. Murray made six of 12 field goal attempts at 50% and was even more effective from long range, making three of four three-pointers at 75%. In game 2 Murray scored a team-high 16 points, took six rebounds and made three assists.
During 2016/17 Murray played all 26 games for Townsville Fire and averaged a career-high 14.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.5 blocked shots, 2.1 three-pointers made and 31.7 points per game. Mia led JCU Townsville Fire for three-pointers made per game, ranked second for minutes played and points behind Batkovic (20.9 points per game), equal second for blocked shots, third for rebounds, equal third for assists and equal fourth for steals. Murray ranked equal fith in the WNBL for three-pointers made per game, 10th for minutes played, 12th in points, equal 12th in blocked shots, equal 14th for assists and equal 20th for rebounds. Murray made a career-high 2.4 free-throws per game – ranked 16th in the league. At Townsville’s 2016/17 end of season awards Murray won the Players’ Player Award for the third consecutive season.
On 25 March 2017 Townsville Fire announced that Murray had signed with the club for the 2017/18 season. Townsville Fire Head Coach Claudia Brassard told WNBL Media “Mia’s the quintessential professional and we love having her in our program. Not only is she one of the league’s best pure shooters, she’s a fantastic teammate and one of the hardest working players in the competition. She enjoyed another great year and we look forward to her continuing her success with the Fire.”7
Five of the nine Townsville players that played at least 16 games and more than 10.0 minutes per game in 2016/17 returned to the club in 2017/18 – Murray, Batkovic, Cocks, Kelly Wilson and Darcee Garbin. After one season playing in Europe George returned to Townsville Fire for the 2017/18 season. Other additions to the Fire’s core rotation for 2017/18 were Australian point guard Mikhaela Cann (nee Donnelly) and imports Sydney Wiese and Laurin Mincy.
Mia Murray shooting a free-throw for Townsville Fire against Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 14 October 2017
In a road game against Adelaide Lightning on 18 November 2017 at Adelaide 36ers Arena Murray made three three-pointers from six attempts at an accuracy of 50%, scored 14 points and took five rebounds in a 101-78 victory.
Mia Murray playing for Townsville Fire against Perth Lynx at the State Basketball Centre on 26 November 2017
Against the Dandenong Rangers in a road game on 29 November at Dandenong Stadium Murray scored 16 points and took three rebounds in a 58-79 loss. Murray made six of 12 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 50% and four of eight three-pointers at 50%.
Townsville finished the 2017/18 regular season third on the ladder with a record of 14 wins and seven losses, level with second placed Sydney Uni Flames and one game behind minor premiers the Perth Lynx. The Melbourne Boomers finished fourth with 12 wins and nine losses. The top three teams had all made the WNBL finals in 2017/18 with the Townsville Fire making the finals for the seventh consecutive season. Townsville finished the 2017/18 regular season with a league best percentage of 114% and although they recorded six wins by at least 23 points they also had five losses by 15 points or more.
Townsville defeated Sydney two games to nil in a semi final series, winning game 1 by 29 points, 78-49 on 4 January at Townsville Stadium. Game 2 on the road at Brydens Stadium on 6 January was much closer with Townsville scoring the last two field goals of the game with one each to Wiese and George to prevail by three points 68-65, enabling Townsville to progress to the club’s fifth Grand Final in six seasons.
The first two games of the Grand Final Series between Townsville and Melbourne were won by the home team with Townsville defeating Melbourne 69-64 in game 1 and Melbourne winning a thrilling game 2 58-57. In the deciding game 3 at Townsville Stadium on 21 January Townsville had a 70-57 victory to win their third WNBL Championship in four seasons, with Murray being a part of all three titles. In the three game grand final series Batkovic averaged 22.3 points and 12 rebounds per game and won the Rachel Sporn Medal as Grand Final Most Valuable Player. In 2017/18 Batkovic won the WNBL’s regular season MVP award for the third consecutive season and sixth time overall in her career.
During 2017/18 Murray played all 26 games for Townsville and averaged 8.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.6 blocked shots, 1.4 three-pointers made and 22.6 minutes per game. Murray ranked second at Townsville for three-pointers made per game, third for blocked shots, fourth for points and minutes played and fifth for rebounds. Murray ranked equal 12th in the WNBL for three-pointers made per game and equal 13th for blocked shots.
Mia Murray playing for Townsville Fire against Perth Lynx at the State Basketball Centre on 26 November 2017
Two season break from playing in the WNBL and then a return to play for Townsville Fire in 2020 and 2021/22
After playing 13 consecutive WNBL seasons from 2005/06 to 2017/18 Murray decided to have a break from playing in the WNBL, the break ended up being for both the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons. During this time Mia completed her education degree and had a son, Sidney in October 2019. In early January 2019 Murray received WNBL Life Membership.
During her break from playing Murray remained involved with JCU Townsville Fire in a community engagement role. A part of this role was teaching children basketball skills at school holiday camps at Townsville Stadium and also talking about how skills picked up from basketball transfer to everyday life. In September 2018 Murray told the Townsville Bulletin “The game has given me so much and it’s taught me so much that I’ve been able to take into the workforce, talking about team work and using effective communication which are tools that kids can use in everyday life. We’ve got kids coming back (for the school holiday camp) and it’s great to see their development over the years. There’s some kids that were so timid and shy at the start and now they’re really coming out of their shells. Even after games last season they’d come up and say hello so it’s great to see that they’re getting a familiarity with the players as well and building a good rapport with the team. Basketball’s been a great platform for me and I’m just happy to be passing that on.”8
On 31 August 2020 Townsville Fire announced that Murray had signed with the club for the next WNBL season. Murray told WNBL Media “While I’m hugely proud of my sporting achievements and finishing a degree, I do have to say that I am most proud of my family. I have learned a lot from Max and I am so thankful for his love and support. We absolutely adore our son, he truly makes me beam from ear to ear when I talk about him… he has put a whole new perspective on life and I have a new found adoration for my own parents. Returning to the game I can honestly say I’ve never felt more at ease than I do now… in my younger years I probably worried a bit too much about others or what people thought instead of narrowing that focus on myself.”9
In Murray’s two year hiatus from Townsville Fire the club had a coaching change. In May 2019 Claudia Brassard resigned as the Head Coach of Townsville Fire. The catalyst for Brassard’s decision was a change in her work commitments with Townsville City Council.
In June 2019 Shannon Seebohm was appointed as the Head Coach of the Townsville Fire for three seasons. Seebohm coached the Sydney Uni Flames in the WNBL in 2014/15 and 2015/16 and was named the league’s Coach of the Year in his debut season.
Due to the impact of COVID-19 the 2020 WNBL season had a very different structure to previous seasons and imports weren’t eligible to play in the league. All eight WNBL clubs were located in North Queensland for the duration of the 2020 WNBL season which was played at three locations, Townsville, Cairns and Mackay. The regular season was condensed to five rounds commencing 11 November and each team played 13 regular season games.
During the 2020 WNBL season The Basketball Show aired a video feature where Murray spoke about returning to play in the WNBL as a mother. Murray commented “I never retired, we’d won our third championship and after that season I took a little bit of a moment to reflect on what I’d done, what I had in stall in the future, at that time was weighing up lots of pros, lots of cons and my husband and I decided it was time we wanted to start a family. Took a couple of years off and I guess I got stuck into the real world a little bit, I completed my university degree after nine long years and got stuck into teaching as a relief teacher around Townsville.”
“Never went completely away from the club, yeah once the opportunity came knocking again, you know having Sid, and the Fire asked to come back, I couldn’t wait. Knowing post birth the type of shape you are in, the realities of that and overcoming that to start with, but I knew it was achievable. I had played at a high level for a long time so I knew what was involved in getting in your best shape for the WNBL.“
”The club have supported me from day dot I guess. When Shannon spoke to me on the phone and I spoke to the club they were recruiting me as a mother so they knew exactly what was involved. The girls really love him (Sid) so the first couple of weeks he would come along until my husband Max would pick him up. I think we have got a really exciting team, I am really happy with the way it has all unfolded. The girls are really hungry, from the get-go we have been training really hard. I am really excited by what I have seen so far, it’s been really fun to be a part of, I am just looking forward to get started.”
In the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons when Murray wasn’t playing in the league an important change was made which resulted in mothers receiving more support from the WNBL and WNBL clubs. On 31 October 2018 The Australian Basketballers’ Association (ABA) [from May 2019 known as The Australian Basketball Players’ Association] and the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) announced the establishment of the WNBL’s first Parental and Pregnancy Care Policy. An excerpt from the statement is below:
“The Policy follows the introduction of the Minimum Player Conditions Agreement, reached between the ABA, the Chemist Warehouse Women’s National Basketball League and Basketball Australia in November 2017, and ensures players receive industry-standard conditions.
As a result of the Policy’s introduction, female basketballers in the national league will have access to the full provision of a qualified carer or player elected support personnel for all away trips.
The Policy also provides additional care and financial support for mothers with children up to four years old for away trips, with additional support costs provided in addition to a players’ other salary and entitlements.”10
During the 2020 WNBL season there were four mothers playing in the WNBL – Murray for Townsville Fire, Leilani Mitchell and Steph Blicavs with the Southside Flyers and Ashleigh Karaitianana with the Melbourne Boomers.
Townsville Fire’s starting line-up in 2020 was Murray, Nadeen Payne and Megan McKay in the front-court along with Australian Opals squad members Lauren Nicholson and Shyla Heal in the backcourt. Three players in the core rotation off the bench averaged more than 15 minutes game-time – point guard Steph Reid, power forward/centre Zitina Aokuso and shooting guard Kate Gaze. Courtney Woods and Lara McSpadden each played at least 11 games for Townsville in 2020 and averaged more than 7.0 minutes per game.
Murray was a member of Townsville Fire’s four player leadership group in 2020 with Nicholson, Payne and Gaze. Townsville didn’t appoint a stand alone captain, preferring to share the leadership responsibilities between this quartet of players. On Townsville’s leadership group Murray told WNBL Media “I am really excited about the team this year and think that in such a unique season it will be great to have a group to mentor the playing group on and off the court and share the responsibilities, and I am proud to be apart of it.”11
Against the Deakin Melbourne Boomers at Townsville Stadium on 22 November Murray made three of four three-pointers at an accuracy of 75%, scored 12 points, took four rebounds and made three assists in JCU Townsville Fire’s 87-75 victory.
In December 2020 Murray played her 300th WNBL game in Townville’s penultimate game of the 2020 regular season, reaching the milestone in a JCU Townsville Fire 95-66 victory against Adelaide Lightning at Cairns Pop-Up Arena on 11 December.
More than a dozen years after graduating from the AIS Murray was competing against several former AIS teammates in 2020 including Cayla George, Katie Ebzery and Marianna Tolo. Reflecting on her journey to reach 300 WNBL games Murray told WNBL Media “I think it’s really special because from that group there’s a lot of us still playing and with this unique season up here in Queensland it’s cool to see everyone again and still going. I think of how young my Fire teammates are and what they’ve got ahead of them and I’m really excited because for me it has been such a fun ride. The WNBL is a great league and I’ve always really enjoyed playing in it, it’s been fun.”12
On the 2020 WNBL season with Townsville Fire Murray told wnbl.basketball “(Townsville this season) is fun to be a part of. They’re all crazy as coconuts off the court. The bus trips, the change rooms, the music goes off and I think all of that off-court stuff goes a long way into how we’re performing on court. We’ll make a play that Shannon’s (coach Shannon Seebohm) drawn up, someone will score, and everyone is genuinely excited by it. It’s a very different style we play. People call us run and gun, but I don’t think that gives us enough credit for all the stuff we’ve done in the pre-season with our offences, there’s a lot of stuff and it highlights people’s strengths a lot. After a relatively disappointing season last year the club has done an amazing job of putting great people together on the court that work well together.”13
Townsville finished second on the WNBL ladder at the end of the 2020 regular season with nine wins and four losses, the same record as the UC Capitals and Melbourne Boomers in third and fourth place respectively. Due to having the best record in head to head matches among the three teams Townsville won the tie-breaker and finished second.
In the major semi final at Townsville Stadium on 16 December Townsville played minor premiers Southside who had 11 wins and two losses during the regular season to finish two wins ahead of the Fire. Southside dominated the opening quarter of the major semi final 41-25 and defeated Townsville 106-93. At Townsville Stadium on 18 December Townsville defeated Melbourne in a thrilling preliminary final 65-62 to progress to the Grand Final.
Very little separated Townsville and Southside during the first half of the Grand Final at Townsville Stadium on Sunday 20 December and Southside led 48-46 at half-time. Southside outscored Townsville 23-15 in the third quarter and went on to win the Grand Final 99-82. In the Grand Final Murray scored 11 points and took two rebounds. Murray shot the ball proficiently to make four of eight field goal attempts at an accuracy of 50% and a team-high three three-pointers from six attempts at 50%. In 2020 Murray made 1.4 thre-pointers per game, ranked equal 15th in the league.
Six of the nine players in Townsville Fire’s core rotation that averaged at least 12.0 minutes per game in 2020 returned in 2021/22 with Murray being joined in this category by Nicholson, Reid, Payne, Aokuso and Woods. Townsville recruited American imports, power forward Monique Billings and point guard Sug Sutton. The Fire welcomed back 2015/16 Rachel Sporn medallist and former Townsville captain Micaela Cocks for her 10th season with the club after missing the 2020 hub season. Early in the 2021/22 season Townsville’s full-strength starting line-up was point guard Sug Sutton and Nicholson in the back-court along with Murray, Monique Billings and Aokuso in the front-court.
Mia Murray shooting a free-throw for Townsville Fire against the Melbourne Boomers at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville on 22 January 2022
On Saturday night 12 February 2022 Murray played her 200th game for JCU Townsville Fire in a home game at the Townsville Entertainment Centre against Sydney Flames. On the milestone Murray told WNBL Media “Usually, I’m not fussed, but upon reflection it’s actually pretty incredible to play 200 games for the same club. To be honest I didn’t come here with the intention of playing that many games for Townsville, and now I’m living here with a husband and a child, I’ve bought a house, and I’m invested in the club and the community.”14
Fellow Townsville Fire co-captain Lauren Nicholson told wnbl.basketball “Mia does a really great job of looking out for our players on the court. She is so caring and always available to have a conversation if you need someone to talk to. She’s a really great leader in that regard and I’m really trying to implement some of those qualities into the way I lead.”15
In a road game against Adelaide Lightning on 5 March 2022 at the Lights Community and Sports Centre Murray made four of 10 three-pointers at an accuracy of 40%, took four rebounds and blocked an equal game-high two shots.
Townsville Fire team huddle on 25 February 2022 at the State Basketball Centre against the Melbourne Boomers
Townsville won six of their first 10 games of the 2021/22 WNBL season to be in playoff contention half-way through February. JCU Townsville Fire were hard hit by injuries in the back half of the season with Nicholson (ankle injury) and Sutton (back injury) both playing their final game for the season on 19 February whilst Billings (knee injury) made her last appearance for the season in the following game on 25 February. This resulted in Townsville being undermanned late in the season as in the last seven games of the season after February 12 this staring trio only played a total of six games between them comprised of three games for Billings, two games for Nicholson and one game for Sutton. Townsville finished sixth on the ladder with seven wins and 10 losses.
In both the 2020 and 2021/22 seasons playing for Townsville Fire Murray averaged more than 5.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 20.0 minutes court-time per game. In 2021/22 Murray made 1.7 three-pointers per game, ranked equal 12th in the WNBL with Tess Madgen.
Mia Murray playing defense against Tess Madgen in Townsville Fire’s road game on 25 February 2022 at the State Basketball Centre against the Melbourne Boomers
2021/22 was Murray’s ninth and last season playing for JCU Townsville fire. During The WNBL Show – EP06 published on 6 December 2022 Murray commented “I was disappointed to not play out the end of my days with Townsville but that is the way it is. I had the best part of a decade up in Townsville playing for the Fire and I am extremely grateful to Shannon and the club for allowing me to come back and play after having Sidney, I enjoyed two good years there after that. Circumstances change and you never know what might happen.”
Playing state league basketball
In addition to playing 16 WNBL seasons Murray also played in various state leagues around Australia during the WNBL’s off-season in winter. Murray played state league basketball for teams based in South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland.
Playing at state league level in South Australia for the Forestville Eagles in the Central Australian Basketball League Murray earned All-Star Five selection in three consecutive seasons from 2008 to 2010. The Forestville Eagles women’s team won back-to-back Central Australian Basketball League championships in 2009 and 2010. Murray also played in the CABL for Forestville Eagles in 2013.
Mia played in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) in 2011 and 2012, playing for Tasmanian team Launceston Tornadoes in 2011 and Victorian team Bendigo Braves in 2012.
From 2011/12 to 2021/22 Murray played nine WNBL seasons for Townsville Fire in North Queensland. For much of this period Murray remained in Townsville during the off-season and played state league basketball for the Townsville Flames, initially competing in the Queensland Basketball League.
A partnership between Basketball Queensland and the National Basketball League (NBL) resulted in the NBL1 North conference being established in Queensland, superseding the QBL. In the NBL1 North conference’s inaugural 2021 season Murray played for the Townsville Flames.
During the 2022 NBL1 North season Murray played 21 games for the Townsville Flames coached by Shannon Seebohm, her teammates included 2021/22 Fire trio Reid, Woods and development player Fabbro. Townsville Flames finished third on the ladder with 16 wins and three losses in 2022, three wins behind minor premiers Logan Thunder and two wins behind second placed Southern Districts Spartans.
In the 2022 NBL1 North Grand Final Townsville Flames defeated the previously undefeated Logan Thunder two games to nil to win the NBL1 North Championship. At the NBL1 National Finals held at the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna, Victoria from 9 to 11 September Townsville Flames won two of their three games.
Mia Murray shooting a three-pointer for Townsville Flames in the NBL1 National Finals against Albury Wodonga Bandits at the State Basketball Centre on 10 September 2022
Playing in the WNBL for the Deakin Melbourne Boomers in 2022/23
Murray signed with the Deakin Melbourne Boomers for the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season and reunited with Cayla George and Chris Lucas. Melbourne Boomers captain George was in her fifth season with the club. Lucas was in his first season as the Boomers Head Coach. At the time that Murray was signed the plan was for her to provide the Boomers with a scoring option off the bench.
Seven members of the Deakin Melbourne Boomers team that won the 2021/22 WNBL Championship suited up for the club again in 2022/23 – starters Cayla George, Tess Madgen and Tiffany Mitchell along with bench players Penina Davidson, Lily Scanlon, Lou Brown and Rachel Brewster. Three members of the Boomers 10 player main roster for the start of the 2022/23 were recruited in the off-season with Murray being joined in this category by Australian Opals guard Kristy Wallace and American import centre Olivia Nelson-Ododa. Madgen, George and Wallace were all members of the Australian Opals team that won a bronze medal at the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup held in Sydney from 22 September to 1 October.
In late October 2022 the Melbourne Boomers announced that Madgen was expected to miss at least the first month of the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season due to a knee injury. Guard Lily Scanlon missed the start of the 2022/23 season due to an achilles injury and on 9 November the Boomers announced that the injury would force Scanlon to be out for the entire season.
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On 2 November 2022 Milestones and Misses published a Melbourne Boomers player profiles and preview of the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season article. Below is a link to this article as well the WNBL 2022/23 player profiles category:
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Australian Opals captain Madgen was replaced in the Melbourne Boomers starting line-up by Murray. George and Nelson-Ododa started with Murray in the Boomers frontcourt alongside guards Wallace and Tiffany Mitchell in the club’s season opener on the road against Perth Lynx at Bendat Basketball Centre on 2 November.
Melbourne Boomers starters in a huddle before the start of the second half against Townsville Fire at the State Basketball Centre on 7 December 2022
In the Boomers 104-89 Round 1 victory against Perth Murray made three of seven three-pointers at 42.9%, took six rebounds – ranked equal second for the Boomers behind George with 10 and made two steals. Boomers Head Coach Chris Lucas commented on Murray in a post-game interview on ESPN “I have absolute confidence in her, she prepares really well, she is low maintenance and when she became available I was really pleased to wrap her up.”
Mia Murray shooting a jump shot for Melbourne Boomers against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 9 November 2022
With two main roster players in Madgen and Scanlon on the sidelines injured the Boomers recruited some players during the season, one of these recruits, guard Miela Goodchild played her first game for the Boomers on 20 November against the UC Capitals and played a total of 20 games for the season.
Mia Murray playing defense for Melbourne Boomers against UC Capitals at Melbourne Sports Centre Parkville on 20 November 2022
Murray scored at least 10 points in four of her first five games for the Deakin Melbourne Boomers. In the last of these five game Mia scored 18 points, took eight rebounds and made two assists in an 88-73 road victory against Perth Lynx at Bendat Basketball Centre on 2 December 2022. Murray shot the ball superbly to make seven of 11 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 63.6% and was even more effective from long range to make a game-high four three-pointers from six attempts at 66.7%.
Murray was a co-host along with Megan Hustwaite of The WNBL Show – EP06 published on 6 December 2022. On the dynamic in 2022/23 of playing for the Melbourne Boomers and having George as a teammate and Lucas as a Head Coach again Murray commented “It is like we had never left. I remember exactly what Chris was like and I have to thank Cayla for getting me down here because I think if I had said no she would be on to me. It is great to be playing with her again, I think being away from her and then back again I have just realised how much of a determined individual she is. I have seen her develop as a leader and she is just so much fun to be around. It is great to be back together.”
Hustwaite asked Murray “It was a big move though wasn’t it because you have obviously moved your family down here. Was it a big decision you had to make as a family to leave Townsville and take this contract in Boomers?” Murray replied “It was, I think for me to take the leap it was huge and I still felt that I could play and contribute. I think I was a little bit surprised to get a call-up. Max was fully supportive of it, he’s taken long service leave, he is doing the daddy day-care thing, he is smashing it and it has been a good move for us.”
Mia Murray taking a rebound for Melbourne Boomers against against Townsville Fire at the State Basketball Centre on 7 December 2022
During The WNBL Show – EP06 co-host Hustwaite commented to Murray “You came to Melbourne probably to play a role but it has been a much bigger role because of the injuries you have had and you have been starting and winding back the clock.” Murray responded “When Chris spoke to me about coming down he did mention coming off the bench. He did say get fit and get ready to shoot. I know what every Chris Lucas pre-season is like and I know the style that he likes to play and I knew that I would have to get in pretty good shape to do that but I wasn’t expecting to play the minutes that I have been playing.”
In recent seasons there has been a significant increase in the number of mothers playing in the WNBL. Four mothers played in the 2020 season and just two seasons later 11 mothers played during the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season. On The WNBL Show Murray commented on the increase in the number of mothers playing in the league “I think it is fantastic, the fact that women have the confidence to come back and play. For me I felt like I could still compete and I wanted to compete at the highest level in Australia so that was my motivation. The fact that the clubs support the ladies to come back, they allow partners to travel, look after the children and allow us to do what we do and be the best that we can be on the court.”
In the first half of Melbourne Boomers Round 7 home game against Adelaide Lightning at the State Basketball Centre on Thursday 22 December Murray scored 15 points to play a critical role in Melbourne remaining within striking distance and trailing by eight points, 41-49 at the main break. Murray kept the scoreboard ticking over in the second half in a phenomenal shooting exhibition. When they needed a basket the most Murray delivered for the Boomers, making a corner three-pointer with 41 seconds remaining to tie the scores at 91 points apiece in what was the final score of regulation. Murray made two free throws with 11 seconds left in overtime to increase her tally to 34 points and extend the Boomers lead to six points, 106-100 in the final score for the game.
Mia Murray making a free-throw with 11 seconds left in overtime for Melbourne Boomers against Adelaide Lightning at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2022
Murray shot the ball exceptionally against Adelaide to make 11 of 16 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 68.8%, seven of nine three-pointers at an incredible accuracy of 77.8% and made all five free-throws to score a game-high 34 points. Murray also took four rebounds, all defensive and made two assists in the Boomers thrilling victory to earn selection in the WNBL’s Round 7 Team of the Week. Two Melbourne players scored at least 30 points for the game with Boomers captain George scoring 30 points, taking 11 rebounds and making 10 assists to register the first triple double in the WNBL since Jenna O’Hea on 10 November 2012 playing for the Dandenong Rangers against the Bulleen Boomers at Dandenong Stadium. George was named the Player of the Round and joined Murray in the Team of the Week.
Mia Murray just before shooting a three-pointer for Melbourne Boomers against Adelaide Lightning at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2022
Instead of playing off the bench during the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season Murray started every game for the Boomers in the first seven rounds and ranked in the top five for minutes played of not just the Boomers but the entire WNBL! To the end of Round 7 Murray averaged 34.9 minutes per game – ranked fourth in the WNBL and third at the Boomers behind league-leader George (36.8 minutes per game) and Tiffany Mitchell (36.3). Coach Lucas’ instruction when recruiting Murray was to get ready to shoot and Mia certainly did this frequently and at a high accuracy. At the end of Round 7 Murray led the WNBL with a career-best 3.1 three-pointers made per game and had a three-point accuracy of 48.0% – ranked fourth in the league among players that had made at least five three-pointers for the season. Boomers teammate Tiffany Mitchell led the league in this category with a three-point accuracy of 56.0%.
Tess Madgen played her first game of the 2022/23 WNBL season for the Boomers off the bench against the Southside Flyers at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville on 4 January 2023, playing 17 minutes court-time. On 11 January the Boomers announced that Madgen would sit out the remainder of the 2022/23 season due to her knee injury.
From Round 1 to Round 10 Murray started for the Deakin Melbourne Boomers in all 13 games and scored at least seven points 11 times. Due to a foot injury Murray missed three consecutive Melbourne Boomers home games against Bendigo on 22 January, Perth on 29 January and Bendigo again on 5 February. Melbourne lost their first two games without Murray and recorded a big victory against Bendigo in the third game. Murray made her return from injury as a Boomers starter against former team Townsville Fire on 15 February at the Townsville Entertainment Centre. Murray made all three field goal attempts including both three-pointers to score eight points in Melbourne’s 96-101 loss with the game going to a second period of overtime after scores were locked at 76 points apiece at the end of regulation.
With Madgen ruled out for the season the Deakin Melbourne Boomers recruited two guards – Taylor Ortlepp and Leilani Mitchell. Ortlepp made her club debut for the Boomers on 29 January and played 10 games for the season. Two-time Rachael Sporn medallist Mitchell had 170 games WNBL experience and was making her return to the league after having a child in mid-2022. Mitchell played her first game for the Boomers on 22 February and played six games for the season.
On 25 February against the UC Capitals at the National Convention Centre Murray scored at least 20 points in a game for the final time of her career. With eight minutes and 53 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter Murray made a lay up to increase her tally for the game to 17 points and reached the significant milestone of 3,000 career points in the WNBL, having started the game on 2,984 career points. Murray became the eight player on a 2022/23 WNBL roster to reach 3,000 points in their career, joining Melbourne Boomers teammates George and Madgen, Southside Flyers trio Abby Bishop, Lauren Jackson and Sara Blicavs along with Bendigo Spirit co-captains Kelly Wilson and Kelsey Griffin in this select group.
Against the Capitals Murray registered a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds comprised of six defensive rebounds and a game-high six offensive rebounds. Mia also made four assists, eight of 13 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 61.5%, three of six three-pointers at 50% and both free-throw attempts.
On Sunday 5 March it was announced that 34 year old Murray would be retiring at the end of the 2022/23 WNBL season. Later that day Murray played the final regular season game of her career for the Boomers against Sydney and in game number 339 moved up to 13th place on the WNBL’s All-Time games played list. Teammate George in game number 327 moved up to 16th place on the same list.
The Deakin Melbourne Boomers finished the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season in third place with 15 wins and six losses. The Boomers had a winning record against six of their seven WNBL rivals, the only exception was losing all three of their head-to-head games against the Southside Flyers. The Boomers and Flyers both had 15 wins, due to losing the head to head split Melbourne finished third and Southside finished second. After winning their last 12 games of the regular season Townsville Fire finished on top with 17 wins and four losses. Perth completed the top four with 13 wins and eight losses, two wins ahead of Bendigo Spirit in fifth place. Melbourne won their head-to-head series’ two games to one against Townsville, Perth and Bendigo.
At the Cygnett WNBL awards on Sunday night 5 March George won the Suzy Batkovic Medal as the WNBL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). Three Boomers were selected in an All-WNBL team with George and Wallace named on the First Team and Tiffany Mitchell named on the Second Team. Mitchell won the Leading Scorer Award with an average of 20.2 points per game. George was runner up in the Leading Scorer Award with an average of 18.3 points per game and took 11.3 rebounds per game to win the Leading Rebounder Award.
Cross-town rivals Deakin Melbourne Boomers and Southside Flyers met in a semi final series with the Flyers having home-court advantage due to winning the season split. In game 1 Murray scored 10 points, took two rebounds and made three assists in Melbourne’s 76-84 loss to Southside at the State Basketball Centre on Wednesday 8 March. Melbourne responded strongly in game two at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville on Saturday 11 March to defeat Southside 96-77.
Mia Murray playing for Melbourne Boomers in game 1 of their semi final series against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 8 March 2023
Melbourne and Southside played a physical series and momentum ebbed and flowed in the series deciding game three at the State Basketball Centre on Wednesday 15 March. After trailing 51-56 at three quarter-time Melbourne went on a 13-4 run to lead 64-60 with four minutes and 25 seconds to play in the last quarter. Southside responded with a 13-8 run of their own and Melbourne were defeated by one point, 72-73, bringing their 2022/23 season and Murray’s WNBL career to a close.
During the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season Murray played 21 games as a starter for the Deakin Melbourne Boomers and averaged 10.4 points (ranked equal 18th in the WNBL), 3.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, a career-high 2.1 three-pointers made and 31.6 minutes per game. Murray ranked second at the Boomers in three-pointers made behind George, fourth in minutes played and fifth in scoring, rebounds and assists. Murray ranked 10th in the WNBL with 2.095 three-pointers made per game, team-mate George led the league in this category with 2.6 three-pointers made per game. Murray made 25 of 28 free-throws at an accuracy of 89.3% – ranked fifth in the WNBL among players that had at least 10 free-throw attempts. Mia made 44 of 105 three-pointers at an accuracy of 41.9% – ranked 14th in the league for accuracy.
Mia Murray shooting a three-pointer for Melbourne Boomers in the second half against Adelaide Lightning at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2022
The Deakin Melbourne Boomers held their 2022/23 end of season awards on Wednesday 29 March. Murray won two awards, the Players Player of the Year Award and the Coaches Award which highlights the impact Mia made playing for the Boomers in 2022/23.
Epilogue
Mia Murray played junior basketball with the Forestville Eagles and progressed to represent South Australia and Australia at junior level. At the 2007 FIBA Under 19 Women’s World Championships Murray had a three-point accuracy of 50% – ranked equal first at the tournament.
At 17 years of age Murray made her WNBL debut with the Australian Institute of Sport on 29 January 2006 and played the team’s last two games of the season. Murray was extremely durable and from 2006/07 to 2017/18 played at least 20 games in 12 consecutive WNBL seasons comprised of two seasons with the AIS, three seasons for Adelaide Lightning and seven seasons with Townsville Fire. In her third and final season with Adelaide Murray was the team’s captain at just 22 years of age.
Murray had a two season break from playing in the WNBL in 2018/19 and 2019/20 and during this time had a son Sidney and completed her university degree. For the last three WNBL seasons of her career from 2020 to 2022/23 comprised of two seasons for Townsville Fire and one season with the Melbourne Boomers Murray combined being a mother with being a professional basketball player.
Throughout her 342 game career Murray made a total of 429 three-pointers at an average of 1.25 three-pointers made per game. Murray’s 429 career three-pointers made ranks first among players that played in the WNBL during the 2022/23 season, the top six ranked players are all mothers and have each registered more than 1,000 points in the WNBL from three-pointers made. Four of the players in the top seven played for the Boomers in 2022/23 with Murray joined in this category by George, Leilani Mitchell and Madgen.
Most career three-pointers made by players that played in the WNBL during the 2022/23 season.
Rank Player Career three-pointers made
1 Mia Murray 429
2 Kelly Wilson 396
3 Sami Whitcomb 362
4 Carley Ernst 352
5 Cayla George 351
6 Leilani Mitchell 334
7 Tess Madgen 322
8 Ally Wilson 265
In a 16 season WNBL career from 2005/06 to 2022/23 Mia Murray played 342 games and averaged 8.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.6 blocked shots per game. In 11 seasons Murray ranked in the WNBL’s top 20 for three-pointers made per game, including three seasons ranked in the league’s top 10.
Mia Murray shooting a three-pointer for Melbourne Boomers against Southside Flyers in game 1 of the semi final series at the State Basketball Centre on 8 March 2023
Across two stints Murray played nine seasons and 202 games for Townsville Fire with the club making the finals eight times including six Grand Finals. Murray was one of only four players along with George, Batkovic and Cocks that were members of all three of Townsville Fire’s first three WNBL Championship winning teams in 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2017/18. In the first of these championship wins Murray scored 23 points at 50% from the field to win the 2014/15 Rachel Sporn medal for being the Most Valuable Player in the Grand Final.
Murray was able to easily adjust to the role her team required her to play. In Murray’s first stint with Townsville Fire from 2011/12 to 2017/18 she was very consistent and averaged between 7.9 and 10.0 points per game in six of her seven seasons. The outlier was 2016/17 when Townsville required Murray to take on more offensive responsibility. Murray responded by averaging a career-high 14.1 points per game – ranked 12th in the WNBL and ranked in the league’s top 15 for blocked shots and assists per game.
During the 2022/23 season Murray expected to play off the bench for the Deakin Melbourne Boomers however was required to take on an expanded role as a starter due to Tess Madgen’s knee injury. Murray responded by setting a new career-high of 2.095 three-pointers made per game and averaged more than 10.0 points per game for the fourth WNBL season in her career.
Mia Murray shooting a three-pointer for Melbourne Boomers against Southside Flyers in game 1 of the semi final series at the State Basketball Centre on 8 March 2023
From 2005/06 to 2022/23 Mia Murray had an incredible career to rank 13th on the WNBL’s All-Time games list with 342 games, played in three WNBL Championships, reached 3,000 career points and won the 2014/15 Rachael Sporn Medal. Murray also made a tremendous impact with her ability to set standards and bring playing groups together. In the last half of her career Mia Murray won her WNBL club’s Players’ Player Award four times, three consecutive seasons at Townsville Fire from 2014/15 to 2016/17 and her final WNBL season in 2022/23 with the Melbourne Boomers. This highlights how highly regarded Mia Murray was by her teammates and how much of a positive impact she had on playing groups.
Article and photographs by Dean Andrews
Twitter – @DeanAndrews7777
References
1 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/murray-on-playing-300-wnbl-games/
5 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/murray-adament-fire-not-playoffs-make-numbers/
6 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/murray-adament-fire-not-playoffs-make-numbers/
7 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/murray-returns-townsville-title-tilt/
9 https://wnbl.basketball/townsville/news/legend-talk-mia-murray/
11 https://wnbl.basketball/townsville/news/fire-unveil-leadership-group/
12 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/murray-on-playing-300-wnbl-games/
13 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/murray-on-playing-300-wnbl-games/
14 https://wnbl.basketball/townsville/news/mias-milestone/
15 https://wnbl.basketball/townsville/news/mias-milestone/
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 