Women's National Basketball League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1981 |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country(ies) |  Australia |
| Most recent champion(s) | Canberra Capitals |
| Official website | WNBL.com |
The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the premier women's basketball league in Australia.
The league was established in 1986, following 5 years of the sport's development through the Women’s Basketball League and the Women’s Basketball Conference. WNBL games are televised live on Fridays on ABC2 and replayed on Saturdays on ABC1.
There are currently 10 teams in the WNBL with all Australian states represented, with the exceptions of Tasmania and the Northern Territory:
- Adelaide Lightning
- Australian Institute of Sport
- Bendigo Spirit
- Bulleen Boomers
- Canberra Capitals
- Dandenong Rangers
- Logan Thunder
- Perth Lynx
- Sydney Uni Flames
- Townsville Fire
The 2007/08 season saw the addition of two new teams: the Bendigo Spirit, and the Christchurch Sirens, which is the first franchise from outside of Australia.
The 2008/09 season saw the addition of a team from Logan, Queensland, the first team from South-East Queensland in over 10 years. They replaced the Christchurch Sirens.
The league has been successful in developing players, the national team (the Opals), and has led to many Australian women receiving contracts to play basketball in European leagues and the WNBA. Michele Timms was the first Australian woman and the first international player drafted in the WNBA. Among the other notable players to make the transition from the WNBL to the WNBA are Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor-Gil, Tully Bevilaqua, Suzy Batkovic-Brown, Belinda Snell and Kristi Harrower. Those who have gone the other direction include American star Alana Beard. In fact, as the seasons do not overlap, players can participate in both leagues in the same year.
[edit] 2009/10 Ladder
| # | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logan Thunder | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 42 | 37 | 2 |
| 2 | Bendigo Spirit | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 55 | 22 | 2 |
| 3 | Bulleen Melbourne Boomers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 73 | 15 | 2 |
| 4 | Sydney Uni Flames | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 61 | 12 | 2 |
| 5 | Adelaide Lightning | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Townsville Fire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | AIS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 79 | -37 | 0 |
| 8 | Dandenong Rangers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 55 | 77 | -22 | 0 |
| 9 | Canberra Capitals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 73 | 88 | -15 | 0 |
| 10 | Perth Lynx | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 61 | 73 | -12 | 0 |
# = Position; Pld = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; PF = Points for; PA = Points against; PD = Points difference; Pts = Points earned.
[edit] League Grand Finals
- 2009 (13 March) : Canberra Capitals 61 def Bulleen Melbourne Boomers 58.
- 2008 (8 March): Adelaide Lightning 92 def Sydney Uni Flames 82.
- 2007 (17 February): Canberra Capitals 73 def Sydney Uni Flames 59.
- 2006 (18 February): Canberra Capitals 68 def Dandenong Rangers 55 - Lauren Jackson (Capitals) was game high scorer with 24pt
Complete list of WNBL Grand Final winners
| Season | WNBL Champion | Coach |
| 1981 | St Kilda Saints | |
| 1982 | St Kilda Saints | |
| 1983 | Nunawading Spectres | |
| 1984 | Nunawading Spectres | |
| 1985 | Coburg Cougars | |
| 1986 | Nunawading Spectres | |
| 1987 | Nunawading Spectres | Tom Maher |
| 1988 | Nunawading Spectres | |
| 1989 | Nunawading Spectres | |
| 1990 | North Adelaide | |
| 1991 | Hobart Islanders | |
| 1992 | Perth Breakers | Tom Maher |
| 1993 | Sydney Flames | Carrie Graf |
| 1994 | Adelaide Lightning | |
| 1995 | Adelaide Lightning | |
| 1996 | Adelaide Lightning | |
| 1997 | Sydney Flames | Bill Tomlinson |
| 1998 | Adelaide Lightning | |
| 1998-99 | Australian Institute of Sport | Phil Brown |
| 1999-2000 | Canberra Capitals | Carrie Graf |
| 2000-01 | Sydney Panthers | Karen Dalton/Tom Maher |
| 2001-02 | Canberra Capitals | Carrie Graf |
| 2002-03 | Canberra Capitals | Tom Maher |
| 2003-04 | Dandenong Rangers | Gary Fox |
| 2004-05 | Dandenong Rangers | Gary Fox |
| 2005-06 | Canberra Capitals | Carrie Graf |
| 2006-07 | Canberra Capitals | Carrie Graf |
| 2007-08 | Adelaide Lightning | Vicki Valk |
| 2008-09 | Canberra Capitals | Carrie Graf |
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
