Writing and photographs by Dean Andrews

This weekend the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL finals commence with minor premiers Bendigo Spirit hosting the fourth placed Sydney Flames and the second placed Perth Lynx hosting the third placed Townsville Fire in game 1 of the respective semi finals. In 2023/24 Bendigo and Sydney’s attempts to end finals droughts fell agonisingly short with both clubs being tied with Perth on 11 wins, 10 losses. Results in the Head to Head contests were the tie-breaker and Perth’s superior record in these games enabled them to finish fourth. Bendigo were the 2024/25 early season pacesetter and locked in a finals berth with five rounds remaining in the regular season, breaking a nine season finals drought. Drought despite their depth being tested throughout the 2024/25 season due to injuries the Sydney Flames were able to lock in a finals berth with a road victory against the UC Capitals in the final game of the penultimate round, Round 15. It is Sydney’s first finals appearance since 2017/18.

The first best of three game WNBL finals series held was the 2015/16 Grand Final with Townsville Fire defeating Perth Lynx. Townsville and Perth are the two most geographical isolated clubs in the WNBL and the distance from Townsville airport to Perth airport is 3,382 kilometres. With one or two stops between the two cities the actual kilometres travelled by plane are much higher than this. On the court Perth and Townsville have been familiar foes during the finals and 2024/25 is the third consecutive season that the clubs have met in the semi finals. Entering the final game of the 2024/25 WNBL season Perth and Townsville had identical win-loss records of 15 wins and five losses and were tied in their Head to Head series one game all. In the final game of the regular season on Sunday 16 February Townsville hosted Perth at the Townsville Entertainment Centre. For the fourth time in 2024/25 a WNBL game went to overtime with Townsville and Perth locked together on 75 points apiece at the end of the fourth quarter. Townsville looked to be in a commanding position when they led by six points with 33 seconds remaining in overtime. Perth struck back to score the last seven points of the game, culminating in a made Alex Ciabattoni three-pointer with five seconds left that turned a Perth two point deficit into a one point lead. Perth’s victory resulted in them finishing second on the ladder one win ahead of Townsville, 16 wins to 15 to earn home court advantage for the semi final series between the two clubs.

This article covers several aspects of the 2024/25 season including:

• Roster continuity
• The ladder at end of the 2024/25 regular season
• 2024/25 semi finals fixture
• Rosters and performance of the four clubs that made the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL finals
• The upcoming semi finals with Bendigo playing Sydney and Perth playing Townsville

Roster continuity

An important factor for a successful a basketball team is continuity both from season to season and throughout a season. Table 1 below looks at the level of continuity each of the eight clubs had with their top seven players for minutes played per game in 2024/25. The number of players used in rotations varied throughout the league. The top seven players were chosen for this purpose as seven players were the shortest core rotations used by Bendigo and Southside, reducing the impact of coaches deciding not to give court time for a player.

For returning players in 2024/25 Geelong have been excluded from the calculation, due to 24/25 being Geelong’s inaugural WNBL season they weren’t able to have players return from the 2023/24 season. Five clubs had four or five players in their top seven for court time in 2024/25 that returned from 2023/24. Perth and Adelaide led this category with five players each. Bendigo, Sydney and Southside each had four players in their top seven for court time that suited up for the club in 2023/24. The two clubs that had the least stability withy their top seven players were the UC Capitals (2 players returning) and Townsville Fire (1 player). Later in this article in the club by club section each teams 24/25 roster is listed and sorted by minutes per game. Several other stats are included such as career WNBL games played and games played in 2024/25.

Across the league the average numbers of games played by a club’s top seven ranked players for court time in 2024/25 was 127.9 of a possible 147 games, which is 87.0%, equating to 6.09 of the team’s top seven players playing each game. The top seven ranked players for court time at Bendigo and Perth both played 136 of a possible 147 games, equating to 92.5% of the maximum games available – ranked equal third in the WNBL. Two of Bendigo’s players in the club’s top seven for court time missed multiple games due to injury in the first third of the season. Due to a fractured finger Bendigo captain Griffin was on the sidelines for Bendigo’s first six games. Guard Wehrung started the Spirit’s first game of the season but missed the club’s next three games due to an injury. Two of Perth’s top seven players Amy Atwell and Alex Ciabattoni missed multiple games. Atwell missing seven games at the start of the season due to a knee injury and Ciabattoni missing four games including several games due to her wedding, marrying James Goodlad.

Import guard Zia Cooke played seven games for the Fire before leaving the club and returning to America. Townsville spent some time playing with one import whilst assessing their options. On 5 January Townsville announced that they had signed American import Nia Coffey. In Townsville’s last eight games of the season Coffey played for Townsville, with the last seven being as a starter. For minutes played per game in 24/25 three imports ranked in Townsville’s top five Cox (2nd), Coffey (3rd) and Cooke (5th). For the purposes of the top seven players calculation in Table 1 Cooke was excluded as a club can only have two import at one time. Townsville’s top seven for Table 1 became Cox, Coffey and their top five Australian players. Cox and four of Townsville’s Australian top five played all 21 regular season games – Courtney Woods, Alicia Froling, Abbey Ellis and Alex Fowler. Due to a foot injury co-captain Lauren Mansfield missed five games. Townsville’s top seven players for court-time played 129 of a possible 147 games which is 87.8%. Most of the games missed were due to Townsville making an import change as Coffey only played the club’s last eight games of the season.

The Sydney Flames looked to well place from a roster continuity perspective for 2024/25 however two of Flames players that earnt All-WNBL selection playing for the club in 2023/24 and resigned with the club were unable to play for the Flames in 2024/25. In October 2024 it was announced that Lauren Nicholson was pregnant with her first child. American import Didi Richards had to withdraw from the 2024/25 WNBL season due to injury. Three of the seven players that have averaged more than 22.0 minutes per game for Sydney have played less than a dozen games, Clarke (9 games) and Ruef (7 games) and Tupaea (11 games). Clarke and Ruef have both been sidelined with knee injuries and Tupaea joined the Flames mid-season after completing her commitments playing for Northern Kahu in the Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa in New Zealand. Sydney’s top seven players for minutes per game played 107 of a possible 147 games which is 72.8%. Sydney have had to adapt throughout the season due to players being out injured which has resulted in Head Coach Guy Molloy needing to implement small ball basketball at times. The Flames lack of player continuity highlights the level of resilience they had to display in 2024/25 to secure fourth position on the ladder.

Finals system and ladder at the end of the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL regular season

The WNBL has had several different finals systems from the league’s inaugural 1981 season through to the current 2024/25 season. For most of the WNBL’s 45 season history the top four teams at the end of the regular season have qualified for the finals, however there were also some seasons from 1996 to 2011/12 where the top five clubs contested the finals. The current finals structure of semi finals with first playing fourth, second playing third and the two winners contesting the Grand Final is the finals structure that the WNBL had in place for its first decade from 1981 to 1990. All of these finals during the WNBL’s first decade were single game sudden death. In 1991 the finals remained a top four however there was a greater reward for the top two teams who received a double chance, playing each other in a semi final with the winner advancing to the grand final and the defeated team playing a preliminary final against the winner of the semi final between third and fourth.

In the present day the two semi finals and the grand final are both best of three game series. A best of three game Grand Final series was introduced in 2015/16 with the other finals remaining as single games. A season later in 2016 /17 the semi finals with first vs fourth and second vs third also became a best of three game series. 2024/25 is the ninth consecutive WNBL season where there have been eight teams in the league and four teams contesting the finals, with this structure operating from 2016/17 onwards.

Bendigo’s winning ratio of 85.7% in 2024/25 is the highest winning ratio a WNBL club has recorded in the past nine seasons with eight teams in the league from 2016/17 onwards, just ahead of Southside’s ratio of 84.6% (11 wins, 2 losses) in 2020. Bendigo Spirit’s winning ratio of 85.7% in 2024/25 is the highest a club has recorded in 11 seasons since the same club, Bendigo had 22 wins and two losses during the 2013/14 regular season for a winning ratio of 91.7%. The Spirit went on to win the 2013/14 WNBL championship, defeating Townsville in the Grand Final. 2024/25 is only the third time in the past nine seasons that the top three teams have all had a winning ratio above 70% along with 2019/20 and 2022/23. In both of these seasons the minor premier had a record of 17 wins, four losses (81.0%) to finish two wins ahead of the second and third placed teams who both had a record of 15 wins and six losses (71.4%). Southside finished on top of the ladder in 2019/20, ahead of the UC Capitals and Melbourne Boomers in second and third place respectively. In 2022/23 Townsville won the minor premiership, ahead of Southside and Melbourne in second and third place respectively.

Bendigo Spirit and Townsville Fire in team huddles during Bendigo’s home game at Red Energy Arena on 14 December 2024

During the 2024/25 season there was considerable movement among the teams from fourth to eighth place on the ladder. Entering the penultimate round of the regular season, Round 15, four teams were in contention for fourth position – Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and Geelong. In the final game of Round 15 Sydney defeated UC Capitals to secure the last place on the WNBL finals grid. At the end of the season Sydney and the Capitals had identical win-loss records of eight wins and 13 losses. For the second season in a row a tie-breaker was required to determine which of the two clubs finished fourth. Sydney won the 2024/25 tie-breaker due to defeating the Caps three games to nil in the Head to Head series between the two clubs. After having two wins and 10 losses at the end of 2024 the UC Capitals resurgence in 2025 fell one win short of making the finals. Adelaide Lightning finished in sixth position with seven wins and 14 losses. Geelong United and Southside Flyers both had a record of six wins and 15 losses. Geelong won the Head to Head series between the two Victorian clubs three games to nil to finish seventh. Reigning WNBL Champions the Southside Flyers finished last on the ladder.

In most national sporting leagues there is a sizeable gap between the club that secures the last finals berth and the team that finishes on the bottom of the ladder. The 2024/25 WNBL season was an outlier with only two wins separating the fourth placed Sydney Flames and the last placed Southside Flyers. In the previous eight seasons with eight teams in the league from 2016/17 to 2023/24 the smallest gap from fourth to eighth place on the ladder at the end of the regular season was six wins in 2021/22, triple the 2024/25 margin. In three of the eight seasons, 2016/17, 2018/19 and 2022/23 the gap from fourth to eighth was 11 wins. The gap from fourth to eighth in a 13 game regular season in 2020 was nine wins, equivalent to 14.5 wins in a 21 game regular season.

2024/25 is the second time in league history that a team with a winning ratio below 50% has finished in a top four position on the ladder at the end of a WNBL regular season. The previous time was West Adelaide finishing third with six wins, seven losses and a winning ratio of 46.2% in the league’s inaugural 1981 season to progress to the finals. Sydney’s winning ratio of 38.1% in 2024/25 is the lowest mark a team finishing in a top 4 position on the WNBL ladder has recorded in league history.

During the eight seasons from 2016/17 to 2023/24 with eight teams competing in the WNBL and the top four making finals the biggest gap from first to fourth place at the end of the regular season was five wins in 2019/20. The UC Capitals won the minor premiership with 17 wins and four losses to have a winning ratio of 81.0%. Adelaide finished fourth with 12 wins, nine losses and a winning ratio of 57.1%. The 10 win advantage 2024/25 minor premiers Bendigo Spirit have over the fourth placed Sydney Flames is double the five win gap between first and fourth in 2019/20. Over eight seasons from 2016/17 to 2023/24 the largest gap between third and fourth place at the end of the regular season was three wins in 2019/20 with the third placed Melbourne Boomers having 15 wins and six losses and the fourth placed Adelaide Lightning having 12 wins and nine losses. The gap between third placed Townsville (15 wins) and fourth placed Sydney (8 wins) at the end of the 2024/25 regular season is seven wins, more than double the 2019/20 margin of three wins.

Whilst there were two tiers on the WNBL ladder in 2024/25 with a clear top three teams and then a significant gap to the five teams from fourth to eighth this didn’t meet that the bottom five teams were uncompetitive in the games against the top three teams. Five times in 2024/25 a bottom five team defeated a top three team including the fifth placed UC Capitals recording victories against two top three teams, minor premiers Bendigo as well as against Townsville earlier in the season. In Round 8 the team that ended up finishing on the bottom of the ladder, the Southside Flyers recorded a three point home victory against the ladder leading Bendigo Spirit. Other upset results in 2024/25 were the Perth Lynx suffering road losses to Adelaide and Sydney.

Semi finals fixture
On their Instagram account the WNBL made a post of the league’s 2024/25 semi finals fixture, refer below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The WNBL (@thewnbl)

ix days after the regular season concluded on Sunday February 16 the semi finals commence on Saturday February 22 with the second placed Perth Lynx hosting the third placed Townsville Fire at Bendat Basketball Centre in a game starting at 5.00pm (AWST). With Townsville as hosts the two clubs played arguably the game of the season to finish the regular season with Perth having an 87-86 road victory in overtime. At the same venue Townsville will host Perth in game 2 of the semi finals at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on Wednesday 26 February with the game starting at 6.30pm (AEST). If the series is tied at one game all the Lynx will host game 3 against the Fire on Saturday 1st March, the venue and time is to be confirmed.

After both clubs concluded their regular season on Saturday 15 February, minor premiers Bendigo Spirit will commence their semi final series against fourth played Sydney Flames eight days later with a home game at Red Energy Arena on Sunday 23 February at 3.30pm (AEDT). The Sydney Flames host game 2 against Bendigo at Quaycentre on Thursday 27 February 7:00pm (AEDT). If required the Spirit will host game 3 against the Flames at Red Energy Arena on Sunday 2nd March at 2:30pm (AEDT). Game 1 of both semi final series will be broadcast on all three channels, ESPN, 9Go! and 9Now. Game 2 and game 3 (if required) of the semi finals will be broadcast by ESPN.

Game 1 of the Grand Final will be held on Wednesday March 5 with the highest ranked semi final winner hosting the lowest ranked semi final winner in a game broadcast by ESPN. The lowest ranked semi final winner will host the highest ranked semi final winner in game 2 on Sunday March 9 with ESPN, 9Go! and 9Now all broadcasting the game. If the Grand Final is tied at one game apiece the highest ranked semi final winner will host game 3 on Wednesday March 12 with ESPN broadcasting the game.

Club by club guide for the 2024/25 WNBL finalists

In the section below a club by club guide is provided for each of the four 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL finalists in ladder order, Bendigo Spirit, Perth Lynx, Townsville Fire and the Sydney Flames. Details of each club’s 2024/25 roster, the construction of the roster and the club’s 2024/25 season are provided as well as some player stats.

1. Bendigo Spirit – 18 wins, 3 losses

2024/25 main roster – 10 players
Returned from 2023/24 (5): Kelsey Griffin, Casey Samuels, Micah Simpson#, Abbey Wehrung, Kelly Wilson
Arrived in the off-season (5): Opal Bird^ (Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence – NBL1 East), Veronica Burton* (Connecticut Sun- WNBA), Ashlee Hannan (Perth Lynx – WNBL), Marianna Tolo (Spar Girona – Spain), Sami Whitcomb (Townsville Fire – WNBL)
*Import

#Promoted from being a development player in 2023/24

^Amateur player
2024/25 Head Coach: Kennedy Kereama is in his third season as Bendigo Spirit’s Head Coach and sixth season as a HC in the league overall. From 2012/13 to 2014/15 Kereama was the Head Coach of the West Coast Waves (now known as Perth Lynx).
2024/25 Development Players (3): Georgia Booth, Lavinia Cox, Asha Nightingale

A quartet of Bendigo Spirit players that averaged at least 16.0 minutes per game and played more than 16 games each in 2023/24 signed with the club for 2024/25, Kelly Wilson, Kelsey Griffin, Abbey Wehrung and Casey Samuels. The Spirit recruited exceptionally in the off-season to sign Australian Opals duo Sami Whitcomb and Marianna Tolo along with American import guard Veronica Burton. These seven players have formed Bendigo Spirit’s core this season, each averaging more than 22.0 minutes per game. The six Australian’s in Bendigo’s core seven each have more than 150 games WNBL experience. Kennedy Kereama is in his third season as the Spirit’s Head Coach. Other players on Bendigo’s 24/25 main roster are Micah Simpson, Opal Bird and Ashlee Hannan. In addition to the 10 players on Bendigo Spirit’s main roster three development players Asha Nightingale, Georgia Booth and Lavinia Cox have represented the club in 2024/25.

Bendigo Spirit in a team huddle after their road game against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2024

When Wilson and Griffin first played as teammates in the WNBL for Bendigo Spirit in 2012/13 only five players that are on a roster of the other three 2024/25 finalists had played in the league – Cayla George, Ally Wilson, Alicia Froling, Lauren Mansfield and Tahlia Tupaea. Two of Kelly and Kelsey’s current Bendigo teammates had played in the WNBL before 2012/13 – Tolo and Samuels. Wilson and Griffin were starters on the Spirit’s 2012/13 and 2013/14 WNBL championship winning teams. Griffin and Wilson had been starters along with off-season recruit Tolo on the UC Capitals 2018/19 title winning team. Griffin and Tolo were also teammates on the Caps 2019/20 title winning team. Whitcomb and Tolo have significant experience as Australian Opals teammates including being members of the team that won the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Due to a fractured finger Bendigo captain Griffin was on the sidelines at the start of the 2024/25 season. Wehrung was a starter in Bendigo’s opening game of the season at home against Adelaide but then missed the club’s next three games due to concussion. Whilst Griffin recovered from her injury Samuels was a member of the Spirit’s starting line-up along with Burton, Whitcomb, Wilson and Tolo. Griffin missed six games and played her first game of 24/25 for the Spirit off the bench in a home game against the UC Capitals on 30 November.

Bendigo Spirit won their first nine games of 2024/25 to have the best start to a WNBL season in their club history, surpassing seven victories to commence 2022/23. After going through the first seven rounds undefeated Bendigo suffered back to back three point losses in Round 8, at home against Perth and on the road against Southside. Griffin was brought into Bendigo’s starting line-up for the Round 9 road game against Adelaide Lightning on 27 December with Samuels commencing the game on the bench. Griffin had commenced the first five games of her 2024/25 season on the bench, building up conditioning and playing less than 27.5 minutes court time in each of these games.

Bendigo returned to the winners list in Round 9 and had another extended winning streak. On January 12 the Spirit recorded their 13th win of the season in a home game against Sydney on the final day of Round 11 to book their ticket to the 2024/25 finals with five rounds remaining in the regular season.
Although Bendigo have convincingly finished on top of the ladder they were in jeopardy of losing top spot in mid-January. Bendigo and Perth split their first two games of the season with Bendigo having a six point road victory on 5 December an a three point road loss on 19 December. When Bendigo hosted Perth at Red Energy Arena on 15 January Bendigo had two losses for the season and Perth had been defeated three times. The victor in game 3 between the two clubs would win the Bendigo-Peth Head to Head series two games to one. If Perth defeated Bendigo on 15 January the Lynx would have drawn level with Bendigo on wins and would have moved to the top of the ladder due to winning the season series. Perth gained the ascendancy in the first half of the 15 January game and led by eight points at half time 53-45. The Spirit made slight inroads in the third term to outscore the Lynx 20-17 to reduce the deficit to five points at the last change. Bendigo dominated the last term 30-16 on the back of shooting at 80% from the field to Perth’s 23.5%. After being tested Bendigo recorded a nine point win over the Lynx 95-86 to consolidate top position.

After Bendigo’s Round 12 home victory against Perth on Wednesday January 15 Megan Hustwaite in a post-game television interview for ESPN asked Sami Whitcomb “Everyone talks about this group being special, what makes it so special Sami?” Whitcomb responded “I think the fact that we can get down to a really tough team, nothing is going our way and we can have the poise to fight back in the second half. We are just a really selfless, hardworking team group.” Hustwaite said “And you have won in every fashion.” Whitcomb replied “Yeah we have, we have won ugly, we have won nice basketball, blowouts, comebacks, all of it so it is good.”

With their 17th victory of the season in a Round 14 road game against Geelong United on Wednesday 29 January Bendigo Spirit locked in top place at the end of the regular season to hold pole position on the WNBL finals grid and a semi finals match-up against the 4th placed team. Bendigo broke a nine season WNBL finals drought to return to the finals for the first time since 2014/15. In each of Bendigo Spirit’s three previous finals appearances from 2012/13 to 2014/15 they made the Grand Final and played Townsville Fire. Two starters on Bendigo Spirit’s back to back WNBL Championships in 2012/13 and 2013/14, Griffin and Wilson are starters on the Spirit team in 2024/25 that is attempting to win the club’s third WNBL championship.

In a post-game interview on 9 GO’s coverage of Bendigo’s Round 14 home game against Southside on 2 February Gabe Richards asked Kennedy Kereama “How important is it to have a full team effort heading into the finals?” Kereama responded “Really important to be able to give people opportunity and rhythm and we have been fortunate to do that the majority of the season. We really just want to have a group that is playing great team basketball, feeling fresh and I think we have done a really good job of achieving those things.”

In their final game of the regular season Bendigo were without Casey Samuels due to a minor knee injury. The Spirit suffered their largest defeat of the season, having a 74-83 road loss to the UC Capitals at AIS Arena on Saturday 15 February.

A quartet of Spirit players ranked in the WNBL’s top five in at least one key statistical category for the 2024/25 regular season. This season’s Suzy Batkovic Medal winner Whitcomb led the league with 21.0 points per game, Griffin ranked fourth with 10.3 rebounds and Tolo ranked fifth with 1.3 blocks. Whitcomb and Burton ranked third and fourth with 5.0 and 4.7 assists per game respectively. The WNBL record holder for games and career assists Kelly Wilson ranks 10th in 2024/25 with 1.7 steals per game. Highlighting their depth two Bendigo players that commenced at least nine games on the bench ranked in the WNBL’s top 10 for three-pointers made per game – Samuels (2.3 3PM per game – 3rd) and Wehrung (2.0 3PM per game – equal 6th).

Sami Whitcomb playing for Bendigo Spirit against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2024

Bendigo led the WNBL in 2024/25 with 10.9 three pointers made per game and rank first with a three point accuracy of 36.8%. Whitcomb has shot the ball exceptionally from long range to lead the league with 3.4 3PM per game and had a three point accuracy of 41.9%, ranked third in the league among players that had at least 20 3PA. The statistic that highlights Bendigo’s shooting prowess the most is free throw accuracy. The Spirit led the league for free throw accuracy with 84.5% ahead of Southside Flyers (80.8%) and semi final opponent the Sydney Flames (74.8%). All seven Bendigo players that average more than 20 minutes per game have a free throw accuracy of at least 81.0% which is better than the second best team in this category.

2024/25 is the third time that Bendigo have finished on top of the ladder, having previously achieved this feat in 2012/13 (21 wins, 3 losses) and 2013/14 (22 wins, 2 losses) when Griffin and Wilson were starters. The level of enjoyment Griffin and Wilson have being teammates playing for Bendigo is a key factor in the duo playing in the WNBL. Having players and people the calibre of Kelsey and Kelly has been a drawcard in the Spirit recruiting players so it is fitting that the duo are starters on a Bendigo team that has won the 2024/25 minor premiership and is making a long awaited return to the WNBL finals.

Kelsey Griffin making a lay up for Bendigo Spirit against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2024

Four Bendigo Spirit players won 2024/25 WNBL Awards, Sami Whitcomb, Veronica Burton, Kelsey Griffin and Abbey Wehrung. Whitcomb won the league’s highest individual honour, being voted the Suzy Batkovic Medal winner for being the WNBL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). Three Spirit players earnt All-WNBL selection with Whitcomb named in the First Team, Griffin and Burton were both selected in the Second Team. Wehrung was named the Sixth Women of the Year. Despite missing Bendigo’s first six games of the 2024/25 season club captain Griffin excelled on the boards to take seventh in the league with 154 total rebounds, leading the Spirit in this category ahead of Tolo and Whitcomb both on 133. Spirit players won two of the three statistical awards with Whitcomb averaging 21.0 points per game to win the leading scorer award and Burton winning the Golden Hands Award with a rating of 5.1 per game.

Veronica Burton playing for Bendigo Spirit against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2024

Bendigo Spirit General Manager Dan Jackson commented in an article published on the club’s website on 17 February “We are incredibly proud of Sami, Veronica, Kelsey and Abbey for their well-deserved, League-wide recognition. Along with their teammates and our coaching and high performance staff, their hard work and dedication have been the driving force behind our success this season. These awards are a testament to their talent and their commitment to the game.”1

In ESPN’s WNBL Weekly article written by Megan Hustwaite and published on 18 February Griffin commented on Bendigo’s experience, saying “I hope we can change the perception of what a WNBL athlete should be because Kelly is still impacting the game incredibly at 41 years old, I’m doing it at 37, Sami’s absolutely smashing it and will take home the MVP at 36. I’m hoping we show that there is no time limit to a professional female athlete’s career and we’ve got some amazing young talent but we also have some incredible, experienced talent in this league.”2

2. Perth Lynx – 16 wins, 5 losses

2024/25 main roster – 10 players
Returned from 2023/24 (7): Amy Atwell, Alex Ciabattoni, Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard, Miela Goodchild, Stephanie Gorman, Anneli Maley, Teige Morrell#
Arrived in the off-season (3): Laeticia Amihere* (Atlanta Dream – WNBA), Kiara Waite (Willetton Tigers – NBL1 West), Ally Wilson (Bendigo Spirit – WNBL)
*Import

#Promoted from being a development player in 2023/24

2024/25 Head Coach: Ryan Petrik is in his fifth season as Head Coach of the Perth Lynx.
2024/25 Development Players (2): Alira Fotu, Jaya Scafidi

Ryan Petrik is Head Coach of Perth Lynx for a fifth consecutive season in 2024/25, having commenced the role in 2020.With Petrik as Head Coach Perth have made the Grand Final twice in three seasons, 2021/22 and 2023/24. In both 2021/22 and 2023/24 Perth fell agonisingly short of winning the club’s second WNBL championship, losing both grand final series in three games after having a game 1 road victory. Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard and Alexandra Ciabattoni were the only two players on Perth’s Grand Final team for both seasons. Clinch Hoycard was a development player for the Lynx in 2021/22 and Ciabattoni had a son Elijah in January 2023 so was unable to play in the 2022/23 season. This meant that Perth didn’t have a player that was on their main roster for all three seasons from 2021/22 to 2023/24.
On constructing a roster Petrik commented to WNBL Media in an article published on 22 September 2023 “Every team I’ve coached has been a little bit different depending on the personnel, but they’ve all played relatively similar in the style. I’ve got an idea in my head of how I want my team to play, and then it’s about going to get the players for that which is the best plan. But it’s also about who the best player is on the table that we can get, and if they don’t fit at all, then I have to change the plan. So this year with the Lynx, you’ll see us play very differently because we have a genuine point guard (Aari McDonald), but last year, we had Lauren Scherf in that role. Everyone freaked out about that until it started working and then everyone thought it was genius, but we were just working with what we had.”3

Perth had significant roster turnover in the three seasons from 2021/22 to 2023/24. The Lynx have far more continuity heading into 2024/25 than after their 2021/22 runners-up season. Five of Perth’s returning players from 2023/24 – Amy Atwell, Anneli Maley, Miela Sowah (nee Goodchild), Steph Gorman and Alex Ciabattoni have each averaged more than 22.0 minutes per game in 2024/25. Seven of the nine players that have averaged more than 10.0 minutes per game played for Perth last season with frontcourt players Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard and Tiege Morrell also being in this category. In the off-season Perth recruited two Olympians well suited to the Lynx’s up-tempo brand of basketball, Australian guard Ally Wilson and Canadian forward Laeticia Amihere.

Perth Lynx team huddle after their victory against the Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 1 December 2024

Much of Perth Lynx’s 2023/24 game style was designed around speedy import point guard Aari McDonald who led the league in scoring with 20.8 points per game. McDonald was the barometer for Perth last season and the team struggled when she had an extended stint on the sidelines due to a knee injury. The performance of Perth Lynx’s starting point guard was going to be critical to the team’s fortunes in 2024/25. For this role Perth recruited Wilson, a player that entered the 2024/25 WNBL season with 225 games experience and is a member of the Australian Gangurrus team along with Perth Lynx captain Anneli Maley. Wilson ranks third for Perth with 14.3 points per game and ranks sixth in the WNBL with 4.5 assists per game.

In an article published by Perth Lynx on 23 January 2025 Wilson commented “Me being a point guard, I sort of just try to do whatever the team needs me to do in each game for us to get a win. Sometimes that’s me having five points and 10 assists, and sometimes that means scoring 29 points or whatever it is.”4 On playing for the Lynx Wilson commented “I’m absolutely loving it and I feel like I’m thriving in the system that Ryan Petrik coaches here at Perth. It’s fast paced, it’s exciting and it’s all about shooting the ball in the first eight seconds of the shot clock if you can. That all really suits me down to the ground as a player so I feel like I’ve been thriving in that environment and how Ryan coaches really suits me. The group of girls have been amazing too and I’ve come into a group where the core was together from last year and they’ve all been so welcoming. I feel like I’ve just fit in with them seamlessly which has been really good.”5

Ally Wilson making a lay up for Perth Lynx in a road game against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2024

Perth Lynx were the second club to lock in a 2024/25 finals berth, achieving this feat with their 13th victory of the season in a Round 12 home game against Southside Flyers on Saturday 18 January. It is the fourth consecutive season that Perth Lynx have made the finals with Petrik as their Head Coach.
After the Round 15 home victory against Geelong at Bendat Basketball Centre Perth Head Coach Petrik commented “Why did we have multiple scorers? We generally move the ball pretty well and the way they were guarding some of the actions meant that we could get to on the ball and therefore would have options. When our bigs roll and get their head on the rim, that forced tags and that forced split extras so we had some options. But we generally do move the ball pretty well, it’s just a matter of if we shoot it well or not is a different story.”6

In the final game of the regular season on Sunday 16 February Perth fought back from an 11 point deficit in a road game against Townsville at the Townsville Entertainment Centre to send the game to overtime. After trailing by six points with 33 seconds left Perth made a miraculous comeback to score the last seven points of the game with Ciabattoni making the go ahead three-pointer from the wing with 5.1 seconds remaining in overtime. Perth finished second on the ladder with 16 wins and five losses, one win ahead of third placed Townsville.

Seven of Perth’s top nine players for minutes per game this season have played at least 20 of Perth’s 21 games during the regular season. The two exceptions are Atwell who was on the sidelines at the start of the season with a knee injury and played 14 games and Ciabattoni who played 17 games. Despite only starting four of her 14 games in 2024/25 Atwell ranked fifth in the league with 2.1 3PM, just ahead of teammate Sowah in equal sixth place with 2.0 3PM. Six of the nine Lynx players that averaged more than 10.0 minutes per game played all 21 regular season games – Maley, Wilson, Amihere, Sowah, Gorman and Clinch Hoycard.

Miela Sowah (nee Goodchild) shooting a three-pointer for Perth Lynx in their road game Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 1 December 2024

Under Head Coach Petrik Perth play an up-tempo pace and space style of basketball. Perth lead the league with 86.8 points per game and ranked first with 41.6 rebounds per game. Perth captain Maley ranked second in the league with 12.1 rebounds per game, Amihere ranked fifth with 15.9 points per game closely followed by Sowah in seventh place with 15.4 points. Throughout the regular season Amihere consistently filled up the stat sheet, also ranking equal sixth for steals (1.9) and equal third for blocks (1.3).

Laeticia Amihere taking a rebound for Perth Lynx against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 1 December 2024

One of the things that counted against Perth in the 2023/24 WNBL Grand Final against Southside was their lack of experience compared to their counterparts. 12 months on it is a vastly different situation with the team having gained a great deal of experience. In addition to their WNBL experience four members of Perth’s 2024/25 represented their nation at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Wilson and Maley for the Gangurrus 3×3 team, Atwell as a member of the Opals bronze medal winning team and Amihere as part of Canada’s five on five team.

Perth are in a brilliant position from a roster construction point of view having seven of their nine players that are averaging more than 10.0 minutes per game having returned from 2023/24. Perth have excelled with their recruiting to have the two off-season recruits that are part of the core rotation Wilson and Amihere both earn selection in the All-WNBL First Team and be in the league’s five nominees for the Suzy Batkovic Medal. A total of four Lynx players earned All-WNBL selection with Maley and Sowah being named in the second team.

Anneli Maley and Ally Wilson after the Perth Lynx victory against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 1 December 2024

Perth Lynx General Manager Samantha Macpherson commented in an article published on the club’s website on 17 February “We are incredibly proud of Ally, Laeticia, Anneli and Miela for their well-deserved, League-wide recognition. Their hard work, dedication and talent have been instrumental in our success this season. These awards are a testament to their commitment to the game and their outstanding performances on the court.”7

3. Townsville Fire – 15 wins, 6 losses

2024/25 main roster – 11 players
Returned from 2023/24 (2): Saffron Shiels, Courtney Woods
Arrived in the off-season (8): Lucy Cochrane (University of Portland – College basketball in the USA), Lauren Cox, Abbey Ellis (Purdue University – College basketball in the USA / Diamond Valley Eagles – NBL1 South), Alex Fowler (UC Capitals – WNBL), Alicia Froling (Bendigo Spirit – WNBL), Nya Lok (George Washington University College basketball in the USA) , Lauren Mansfield (Adelaide Lightning – WNBL) Arrived during the 2024/25 season (1): Nia Coffey (Atlanta Dream – WNBA)
Arrived in the off-season and departed during the 2024/25 season (1): Zia Cooke* (Los Angeles Sparks – WNBA)
*Import
2024/25 Head Coach: Shannon Seebohm is in his sixth consecutive season as the Head Coach of JCU Townsville Fire in 2023/24, having commenced the role in 2019/20.
2024/25 Development Players (2): Majella Carey, Jessica McDowell-White

Shannon Seebohm is in his sixth season as Head Coach of Townsville Fire and has had significant success at the club. Townsville Fire finished on top of the WNBL ladder in both 2022/23 and 2023/24. With Seebohm as Head Coach Townsville have made two grand finals, finishing runners-up to Southside in 2020 and defeating Southside in 2022/23 to win the WNBL championship, Townsville’s fourth title in a decade.

The Fire had a new look roster in 2024/25 and the only two returning players from 2023/24 that have averaged more than 10 minutes per game are guard duo Courtney Woods and Saffron Shiels. In the off-season Townsville recruited three players from rival WNBL clubs, Lauren Mansfield (Adelaide Lightning), Alicia Froling (Bendigo Spirit) and Alex Fowler (UC Capitals). On their main roster Townsville also had five players making their WNBL debut, American import duo Lauren Cox and Zia Cooke along with Australian trio Abbey Ellis, Nya Lok and Lucy Cochrane.

Townsville started the season well to win their opening two games of the season, both on the road, defeating expansion club Geelong United by 26 points and 2023/24 Grand Finalists Perth by four points. In a difficult stretch after that the Fire lost three of their next four games including suffering a 26 point road loss to Perth on 27 November.

Guard Cooke played seven games for the Fire before leaving the club and returning to America. Townsville spent some time playing with one import whilst assessing their options. On 5 January Townsville announced that they had signed American import Nia Coffey. In her previous WNBL season with Adelaide Lightning in 2018/19 Coffey excelled to win the club’s MVP Award and was selected in the All-WNBL First Team. Coffey played Townsville’s last eight games of the season including seven as a starter.

On 22 January Townville Fire registered their 11th win of 2024/25 in a home game against Sydney at the Townsville Entertainment Centre to lock in a finals berth. Throughout the season Townsville’s team chemistry has developed and in 2025 the Fire won their first eight games of the year. The victory margin for the Fire in six of these games was at least 10 points.

Only three of Townville’s players had more than 30 games WNBL experience at the start of the 2024/25 season, Mansfield (196 games), Woods (77) and Froling (73). This trio were appointed as the Fire’s co-captain’s and have played pivotal roles in the club finishing in the top three with a new look roster. At the post game press conference after Townsville’s round 14 victory against Southside at the State Basketball Centre on Friday 31 January Fire Head Coach Seebohm commented on the Fire’s co-captains “They all bring something different, Loz is kind of the arm around the shoulder person, Frols leads by her effort and physicality, and the grunt work sort of stuff and I think Woody is really starting to develop as the person that can kind of say ‘This is what we need to do, why you are doing that’ lead with her voice a lot more.”

The Fire have shown that they can deliver in the pressure moments when the game is on the line with Courtney Woods against Adelaide on 29 November and Abbey Ellis against Southside on 4 January both showing poise to make buzzer beating match winning baskets on the road. In their final game of the regular season Townsville hosted Perth at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on Sunday 16 February with the winner to finish in second place and host game 1 of the semi final series between the two clubs. After leading by six points with 33 seconds in overtime the Fire conceded the last seven points of the game and were defeated by a point. This game and post-game reaction is covered in more detail in the Perth vs Townsville semi final section later in this article.

Townsville celebrating after Abbey Ellis made a buzzer beating game winning three pointer in a road game against the Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 4 January 2025

Townsville Fire lead the league with 19.3 assists per game in the regular season a superb result, especially given the amount of turnover on the roster in the off-season. In the post game press conference after Townsville’s Round 14 road win against Southside the Fire’s Head Coach Shannon Seebohm commented “We have a lot of players that we really believe in, we are trying to play that style where it is a really team oriented style where we share the ball and hopefully a lot of our baskets come off assists and not one on one creation. We are getting better at it, we are really starting to understand different pick and roll coverages that we see, what we are meant to do against each one and how we attack them. I think just the better we get at that the better it is going to be for us.”

During the 2024/25 regular season Townsville Fire ranked first in the WNBL with a field goal accuracy of 44.7%. Six players that are currently on Townsville’s roster average more than 8.5 points per game led by Woods (16.3 points per game) and Cox (13.8). Woods ranked fourth in the league in scoring and second with 5.7 assists per game, a 228% improvement on her previous WNBL career-high of 2.5 assists per game in 2023/24. Cox ranked equal first in the league with 3.1 blocks per game and equal eighth for rebounds (7.8).

Townsville Fire had several award winners at the 2024/25 WNBL Awards held on Monday 17 February at Zinc at Federation Square, Melbourne. Head Coach Shannon Seebohm won the WNBL’S Coach of the Year Award, breaking Tom Maher’s record of winning the award four times. Rookie guard Ellis won the Betty Watson Breakout player of the Year Award and import Cox won the Robyn Maher Defensive Player of the Year Award. Co-captain Woods was selected in the All-WNBL First Team and won the Cygnett Community Award for the second season in a row. Woods was also one of the five nominees for the Suzy Batkovic Medal.

4. Sydney Flames – 8 wins, 13 losses

2024/25 main roster – 11 players
Returned from 2023/24 (4): Emma Clarke, Cayla George, Carla Pitman#, Shaneice Swain
Arrived in the off-season (6): Isabella Brancatisano (Mt Gambier Pioneers – NBL1 South), Sherrie Calleia (Melbourne Boomers – WNBL), Bonnie Deas^ (Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence – NBL1 East), Yemiyah Morris* (Taiyuan Textile – Taiwan), Mikaela Ruef (Townsville Fire – WNBL), Celeste Taylor* (Phoenix Mercury – WNBA)
Arrived during the 2024/25 season (1): Tahlia Tupaea (Northern Kahu – Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa in New Zealand)
*Import

# Promoted from being a development player in 2023/24

2024/25 Head Coach: Guy Molloy is in his second season as Head Coach of Sydney Flames and 16th season as Head Coach of a WNBL team.
Injury replacement player (1): McKenna Dale (Whai – Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa in New Zealand)
2024/25 Development Players (2): Piper Anderson, Caitlin Martin

During Shooting the Breeze podcast Episode 132: Clubland with Chris Pongrass, CEO Sydney Flames & Kings published on 15 September 2023 Pongrass spoke about achieving a goal of having several players sign multi-year contracts with Sydney during free-agency for the 2023/24 Cygnett WNBL season. Pongrass commented “For us what really helped is the players we went after on multi-year contracts, so you are looking at Cayla (George) on a three year contract, Tess (Madgen), Shaneice (Swain) and Lauren (Nicholson). All on multi-year contracts, they all bought into the idea of a, playing alongside one another, as each domino fell they were more incentivised to want to come and play with you know Opals and build something. Players want to win, they want to be part of a winning program, they want to be part of a reset as well. Something that we really focused on this roster is to ensure we build a level of continuity year on year and the players bought into it.”

In 2023/24 Sydney with a new look roster and Guy Molloy in his first season as Head Coach of the club fell one win short of making the playoffs. In the off-season the Flames signed five of the seven players that averaged more than 16.5 minutes per game in 2023/24 and the club was on track to have greater continuity with their roster in 2024/25. The players in this category were Lauren Nicholson, Cayla George, DiDi Richards, Shaneice Swain and Emma Clarke.

Two of these five re-signed players were unable to play for the Flames in 2024/25. In October 2024 it was announced that Nicholson was pregnant with her first child. American import Richards had to withdraw from the 2024/25 WNBL season due to injury. The Sydney Flames needing to find replacements for two starters that both earnt All-WNBL selection in 2023/24 in Nicholson and Richards increased the degree of difficulty in constructing their 2024/25 roster. Sydney recruited two players from rival clubs that had previous experience playing for the Flames in Mikaela Ruef (Townsville Fire) and Sherrie Calleia (Melbourne Boomers). Sydney recruited America import duo Celeste Taylor and Yemiyah Morris along with Australian guard duo Isabella Brancatisano and Bonnie Deas. 2023/24 Sydney Flames Head Coach Guy Molloy and Assistant Coaches Renae Garlepp and Tiana Mangakahia all continued in their roles with the club in 2024/25, providing coaching stability.

For the 10th spot on the Flames main roster opened up by Nicholson being unable to play the Flames opted to elevate Carla Pitman who had played one game for the club as a development player in 2023/24. Early in the WNBL season Sydney signed guard Tahlia Tupaea to join the club mid-season after completing her commitments playing for Northern Kahu in the Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa in New Zealand.

The Sydney Flames in a team huddle after their road game against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 9 November 2024

Three of the nine players that have averaged more than 15.0 minutes per game for Sydney have played less than a dozen games, Clarke (9 games) and Ruef (7 games) and Tupaea (11 games) due to joining the club mid-season. Sydney having a lack of continuity in the off-season and during the season has created an opportunity for other players to take on a greater role and have more responsibility. One player that has benefited from this is Pitman who has played 18 games and is averaging 5.7 points and 20.5 minutes per game. A massive leap from playing one game as a DP in 2023/24.

Over Round 14 and Round 15 the Sydney Flames had two road games against fellows finals contender UC Capitals at AIS Arena. In the lead up to Round 14 Molloy commented in an article published on the Sydney Flames website “I like situations like this, where our destiny is in our own hands and we just need to win. The beauty of the situation too is that we already have the split on Geelong (who sits in sixth with a 6-11 record too) and one win against the Caps will have us the split on them too, which is obviously very helpful for our finals chances. Thursday will be as much of a mental battle for us as anything. Of course, we got the better of them in game one of the season but our team is remarkably different since then. Adding to that is their momentum and the fact they’ll have a big home crowd supporting them – with Canberra always being a tough place to play. But if we’re consistent with our effort and stick to the pillars of our game style, I know what our group is capable of and a finals spot would be a great reward for our team for all the challenges they’ve overcome this season.”8

On the road Sydney were able to defeat the UC Capitals 92-88 in overtime on 30 January at AIS Arena. The victory meant that the Sydney took an unbeatable two games to nil lead in the Head to Head series between the two clubs. Swain was phenomenal, scoring 17 points in the first quarter and finishing the game with 36 points at 58.3% from the field, four rebounds and six assists to be named the WNBL’s Player of the Round.

On Sunday 9 February Sydney again play the UC Capitals on the road at AIS Arena. Sydney Head Coach Molloy commented “I was so proud of how our group came together in that last game and ground out the win in Canberra. Our whole group took a lot of confidence away from that result, where our backs were against the wall and I know that will give us a lot of confidence going into Sunday. We know how important this game is in terms of finals, and after a strong week at training, following a short rest, our team will be ready to play Flames basketball and prove why we belong in the top four.”9

Due to a foot injury George missed the Sydney Flames last three games of the regular season including a road game against the UC Capitals at AIS Arena on Sunday 9 February. Sydney’s starting five for the game against the UC Capitals was Taylor (180 cm), Pitman (180 cm), Swain (176 cm), Tupaea (174 cm) and Brancatisano (178 cm). An undersized and injury depleted Sydney team defeated the UC Capitals 86-71 to lock in fourth position and make the finals for the first time since 2017/18. Guard Isabella Brancatisano played a brilliant all-round game to make a scoring impact and restrict Jade Melbourne to four points. Brancatisano put on a long range shooting exhibition to make eight of 12 three-pointers at 66.7% and scored a game-high and career-high 26 points. Isa’s 8 3PM in a game ranks equal fifth on the WNBL’s All-Time list. With the victory against the UC Capitals the Flames broke a six season finals drought, making the finals for the first time since 2017/18.

Sydney Flames Head Coach Molloy commented in the WNBL Weekly article written by Megan Hustwaite and published on ESPN on 11 February 2025 regarding the Flames injury run in 2024/25, saying “It’s been horrendous, the worst I’ve ever dealt with. We were hanging on in fourth spot, teams with better talent kept losing and we just kept fighting away, getting a win here and there to hang on to the spot and then to nail it – I’m just gobsmacked, I really am. Given everything that’s happened, all the players we’ve lost, that’s the biggest win I can recall for a long, long time. Very special. I just feel great for the club and the group. We’ve taken some beatings this year as well and then to lose effectively every post player of any description.”10

At the end of the regular season the Flames suffered another injury setback with import Taylor missing the club’s final regular season game and being ruled out for the rest of the season due to a foot injury.
Sydney have two players ranked in the WNBL’s top seven for scoring – Swain (3rd – 17.5 points per game) and George (8th – 15.3). George ranks third in the league with 10.6 rebounds per game and ranked seventh for blocks (1.1). During the 2024/25 regular season Swain spent more time playing as a point guard and ranked eighth in the league with 3.9 assists per game. In a road game against Townsville on 22 January Swain achieved a rare feat by scoring 40 points at 64% from the field and made seven of 12 three-pointers at an accuracy of 58.3%.

Two of the three players that played all 21 games for the Flames in 2024/25 had five games WNBL experience between them at the start of the season, guard duo Isabella Brancatisano (4 games before the 2024/25 season) and Carla Pitman (1 game). The third member of the trio Shaneice Swain had played 26 games before 2024/25 and has had a breakout season.

Shaneice Swain shooting a free throw in the Sydney Flames road game against Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 9 November 2024

On Wednesday night 19 February Hoops Capital held their 2024/25 Awards for the Sydney Flames and Sydney Kings at Sydney Olympic Park’s Waterview. Swain won the Flames Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Pitman and Brancatisano were joint winners of the club’s Defensive Player of the Year Award. Pitman also won the Coaches Award and Hardest Working Player Award whilst Brancatisano won the Player’s Player Award. Import Taylor won the Members Moment of the Year Award and George received the club’s Outstanding Achievement Award. Throughout the 2024/25 season George achieved many milestones including becoming the first player in league history to reach 3,500 total points and the fourth person to reach 5,000 career points in the WNBL. At the 2024/25 WNBL Awards Shaneice Swain was one of five finalists for the Betty Watson Breakout Player of the Year Award.

Semi final (1) Bendigo Spirit vs Sydney Flames (4)

Entering the 2024/25 Cygnett WNBL season the two clubs with the longest finals droughts were Bendigo Spirit having last made the finals in 2014/15 and the Sydney Flames who’s last finals appearance was in 2017/18. In 2023/24 Bendigo and Sydney both had winning records of 11 wins and 10 losses and were involved in a three-way tie for fourth spot. In the Head to Head games Perth had the best record to secure fourth position, extending Bendigo and Sydney’s finals droughts.

Bendigo had an exceptional start in 2024/15 maintained that momentum to locked in a finals berth with five rounds remaining in the regular season, breaking a nine season finals drought. Over the last two thirds of the season Bendigo Spirit have had continuity with their top seven players for minutes per game playing the vast majority of games. The biggest change during this time was captain Griffin building up match conditioning off the bench and then replacing fellow forward Casey Samuels in the starting line-up.

Paying a best of three finals series against Bendigo Spirit would be a difficult task for any team in the league. Of the eight clubs in the WNBL Sydney have had the least continuity throughout 2024/25 for player availability. The degree of difficulty increases for the Flames due to three of the seven players that averaged more than 22.0 minutes per game being out due to injury – Taylor (foot), Clarke (knee) and Ruef (knee).

During Shooting the Breeze No. 193: Live from WNBL Orange Carpet 2025 Awards Sydney Flames captain George commented on the Flames breaking a drought and returning to the finals, saying “It’s been a bit of a journey to get to that moment. It’s been a lot of injuries, a lot of just ups and downs, a bit of a grind which seasons can be like, just add ten-fold on top of that for us these season in both aspects, injuries and the grind. Very young team except myself so losing Ruefy for me as that other leader was a bit traumatic, I hope that she recovers really quickly. I am really proud of us for showing resilience and showing character as a team and getting through to the finals against a really tough Bendigo team but we will give it a red hot go. Finals, anything can happen. Finals is an exciting time, I am looking forward to sharing my experience in big moments like this with some of the girls who may not have experienced finals yet. Hopefully we can just give Bendigo a really great challenge and make it a great series.”

The Sydney Flames rank second in the WNBL with 224 three-pointers made for the season, just behind Bendigo’s 228 3PM. A good shooting game from long range will be critical for the Flames to challenge Bendigo in the semi finals. Whilst the Flames are undermanned they still have a trio of players available that have been named the WNBL’s Player of the Round at least once in 2024/25 – Swain, George and Brancatisano.

During the regular season Bendigo won the Head to Head series against Sydney, having victories by in order, 19 points on the road, 21 points on the road and 18 points at home. Bendigo have a very settled and experienced team which includes three players that earnt All-WNBL selection in 2024/25 – MVP winner Whitcomb along with Burton and Griffin.

During Shooting the Breeze No. 193: Live from WNBL Orange Carpet 2025 Awards STB co-host Jacinta Govind asked Sami Whitcomb and Marianna Tolo “You are both high calibre athletes, been in similar situations before, do you still take the same approach to finals games as you would in the past or do you have that one game at a time mentality?” Tolo replied “You have to have the one game at a time mentality, you start thinking too far ahead and you never get there. It is just about preparing as you would for every other game, yeah, there is a little bit more on the line but you come in with the same focus with the game plan and being ready to go. Maybe there is more people there, maybe there is more excitement about you but it is what we do together on court that matters.” Whitcomb said “Yeah, same thing. One game at a time obviously, there is no more important game than the one that we are preparing for right now and then you move on after that obviously depending on what happens. We are really excited to start finals. You can’t really take anything away from regular season except the experience, what we have learnt from that but we know it is going to be a fresh start so we will definitely come in with that focus and ready to go.

During Shooting the Breeze No. 193: Live from WNBL Orange Carpet 2025 Awards STB co-host Paul Camillos asked Bendigo Spirit Head Coach Kennedy Kereama “Rolling in to finals you guys have been having an awesome season. how are you feeling at this point?” Kereama replied “Feeling good, feeling prepared, feeling ready. The coaching staff have put in a body of work, we have formulated a lot of notes against Sydney, we are ready to go.” Govind asked “Is it kind of hard sometimes to keep your team focussed coming into finals or is it just business as usual. Kereama responded “That’s a really good question. I haven’t at any stage had to reign them in in anyway. They are a very hyper-focused, well-led group. I think just, again, the level of leadership and experience amongst the team speaks for itself. They are very good at keeping themselves and holding themselves accountable. I haven’t had a situation where I have had to deal with that so that has been great.”

Bendigo’s last Grand Final final was a decade ago in 2014/15 whilst Sydney’s last GF appearance was two seasons later when they won the 2016/17 WNBL Championship. Four payers in Bendigo’s team have played in at least one WNBL Championship – Wilson, Griffin, Tolo and Samuels with Wilson and Griffin having been starters in Bendigo’s back to back 2012/13 and 2013/14 championships. Tupaea is the only player in Sydney’s line-up that was a member of the club’s 2016/17 title. Flames co-captain George has played in four WNBL championships comprised of three for Townsville Fire and one for the Melbourne Boomers.

Semi final (2) Perth Lynx vs Townsville Fire (3)

Perth Lynx and Townsville Fire were the first WNBL clubs to play a best of three game finals series with Townsville winning the 2015/16 Grand Final two games to nil. Despite the vast distance between Perth on the south-west coast of Australia and Townsville on the north-east coast the two clubs have become very familiar with each other at the semi final stage in recent seasons. 2024/25 is the third consecutive season that Perth and Townsville have played each other in the semi finals.

Best of three game finals between Perth and Townsville
2015/16 Grand Final (1) Townsville Fire defeated (2) Perth Lynx 2-0
2022/23 Semi Final (1) Townsville defeated (4) Perth 2-0
2023/24 Semi Final (1) Townsville lost to (4) Perth 0-2
2024/25 Semi Final (2) Perth vs Townsville (3)

Townsville defeated Perth two games to nil in the 2022/23 semi finals on their way to winning the WNBL championship. The following year the tables were turned with Perth Lynx winning high scoring encounters and sweeping the number 1 seeded Townsville.

Perth Lynx and Townsville Fire both have formidable records at home in 2024/25 with the two club’s having a combine record of 16 wins and five losses for a winning ratio of 76.2%. However in the Head to Head encounters between the two clubs it was the road team that performed better. In their second game of the season Townsville had an 84-80 road victory against Perth at Bendat Basketball Centre on 6 November with Fire co-captains Froling and Woods scoring 25 points each. Exactly three weeks later the two clubs met at the same venue on Wednesday 27 November with Perth recording a convincing 106-60 home victory. Perth had a phenomenal shooting night to make 61.9% of field goals and were even more damaging from long range, making 16 of 23 three-pointers at a white-hot 69.6%. Townsville had a below average shooting night with a field goal average of 40%.

In the final game of the regular season on Sunday 16 February Townsville hosted Perth at the Townsville Entertainment Centre. For the fourth time in 2024/25 a WNBL game went to overtime with Townsville and Perth locked together on 75 points apiece at the end of the fourth quarter. Townsville looked to be in a commanding position when they led by six points with 33 seconds left in overtime. Perth struck back to score the last seven points of the game, culminating in a made Alex Ciabattoni three-pointer with five seconds left that turned a Perth two point deficit into a one point lead.

Maley made two free throws with 26 seconds left. Perth pressed, got a quick steal and Maley made a field goal to reduce the margin to two points with 19.9 seconds remaining. Townsville advanced the ball and had a 14 second shot clock. After the Fire inbounded the ball and made a couple of passes Cox received the ball in the corner and dribbled the ball towards the basket, just before the key Amihere stole the ball. Amihere dribbled the ball down the centre of the court and just after getting inside the three point line passed to Alex Ciabattoni on the wing. Chibba made the three-pointer with 5.1 seconds remaining to turn a two point Lynx deficit into a one point lead. The ball was inbounded to Abbey Ellis who dribbled the ball up the court and just after crossing half-court attempted a three-pointer. The shot hit the backboard, bounced off the rim and missed resulting in Perth recording a fightback road victory by a solitary point.

In ESPN’s WNBL Weekly article written by Megan Hustwaite and published on 18 February Ciabattoni commented on her game-winner “Honestly, the first emotion was relief then ‘oh my god, what just happened?’ and then I thought I’ve got to play defence. Knowing how long this Perth-Townsville trip is, a nine-hour travel day, knowing we go home and host the first game is the best feeling, we have nearly a week to prepare, family and friends there, the crowd — it makes such a difference. Whatever happens now at least we’ve given ourselves a good opportunity.”11

During Shooting the Breeze No. 193: Live from WNBL Orange Carpet 2025 Awards STB co-host Jacinta Govind asked Townsville co-captain Courtney Woods “This is going to be your third finals series in a row where you are starting the semi’s playing against Perth, is it something that you are kind of getting used to or are you a bit like hey universe, give us a break?” Woods responded “I think kind of by the third time you are like OK, this is a bit more than a coincidence. Obviously it is exciting every time we get to play Perth and then again when we get to play them in the finals. The only thing that does suck is just the travel, obviously it is on the other side of the country which is unfortunate. They are a fun team to play so obviously the last three years have been really exciting and this one should be nothing different.”

Later in the STB Orange Carpet 2025 Awards Govind asked Townsville Head Coach Shannon Seebohm “That type of game and like you said having those types of learning curves is it sometimes a blessing in disguise when it is right before the finals or would you have preferred that it happened earlier in the season?” Seebohm replied “No, I think it has happened at the best time. As we saw last year we beat Perth three times in the regular season and then got swept in the playoffs. I think for our girls to go through that, we have obviously had a pretty good run where we have played some good basketball, I think we had won eight in a row going in to that game, so to have a loss and the way we played as well we were pretty disappointed with. We let ourselves down in a lot of areas, I think it is good that it has happened now and we at least have the opportunity to now know what can happen if we play like that and hopefully we can fix it on Saturday.”

References
1 https://wnbl.basketball/bendigo/news/whitcomb-headlines-spirit-success-at-wnbl-awards-night/
2 WNBL Weekly: Young guns, star veterans to light up finals – ESPN
3 https://wnbl.basketball/perth/news/petrik-excited-how-new-look-lynx-are-shaping-up/
4 https://wnbl.basketball/perth/news/wilson-thriving-in-lynx-system/
5 https://wnbl.basketball/perth/news/wilson-thriving-in-lynx-system/
6 https://wnbl.basketball/perth/news/lynx-now-turn-full-attention-to-fire/
7 https://wnbl.basketball/perth/news/perth-lynx-shine-at-wnbl-awards-night/
8 Crucial clash with Capitals awaits Molloy’s Flames – Sydney Flames
9 https://wnbl.basketball/sydneyflames/news/molloys-flames-zero-in-on-finals-berth-against-caps/
10 WNBL Weekly Round 16: Flames ‘gobsmacking’ rise to finals – ESPN
11 WNBL Weekly: Young guns, star veterans to light up finals – ESPN