Adelaide Lightning
Women's basketball team
The Adelaide Lightning is an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL ).[ 1] The club is based in the city of Adelaide , South Australia . The club was formed in 1993 and they play in the 8,000-seat Titanium Security Arena .
History
The Adelaide Lightning were formed in 1993 and started playing out of the Clipsal Powerhouse . Since the early 2000s the team has tended to alternate between their current home at the Adelaide Arena (formerly the Powerhouse) and the Wayville Sports Centre located within the Adelaide Showgrounds .
The Lightning have won the WNBL Championship five times (1994, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2008). The club's captain during its glory years of the 1990s was three time Olympian, twice WNBL MVP and club games record holder (304) Rachael Sporn . Sporn is also the only Lightning player to have her number (14) retired by the club. Other Opals to have played with the Lightning include Jenny Whittle , Carla Boyd , Jo Hill , Kristi Harrower , Erin Phillips , Jae Kingi-Cross , Marina Moffa , Tracey Beatty and Suzy Batkovic-Brown .
As of the 2013–14 WNBL season, the Lightning and Adelaide's men's NBL team the Adelaide 36ers entered into a merger which saw the two teams share the same management team. This also saw the Lightning move their home games exclusively played at the Adelaide Arena where they would play a number of double headers with the 36ers, ensuring larger home attendances for the Lightning and raising the profile of the team. The return to the 8,000 seat Adelaide Arena gives the Lightning easily the largest current venue in the WNBL (the Arena seats some 2,800 more than the AIS Arena in Canberra , while most other WNBL venues can seat around 2,000 – 2,500).
On 5 March 2019, Mr Bruce Spangler, Chairman of Arena Stadium Management announced that he and another business person had negotiated with the WNBL to take over the licence from Adelaide Basketball who were going to hand in the WNBL Club licence at the end of the 2018–19 season. A new sustainable model has now been released for the public to be involved in.
In September 2023, the Lightning and Rachael Sporn agreed to un-retired her number 14 jersey, which was originally retired in 2007.[ 2]
Season-by-season records
Season
Standings
Regular season
Finals
Head coach
W
L
PCT
Adelaide Lightning
1993
2nd
16
2
88.8
Lost Semi Final (Sydney , 59–64) Lost Preliminary Final (Perth , 66–68)
Jan Stirling
1994
1st
16
2
88.8
Won Semi Final (Melbourne , 84–82) Won Grand Final (Melbourne , 84–77)
Jan Stirling
1995
1st
16
2
88.8
Won Semi Final (Sydney , 73–63) Won Grand Final (Melbourne , 50–43)
Jan Stirling
1996
2nd
16
2
88.8
Lost Semi Final (Sydney , 54–57) Won Preliminary Final (Perth , 87–55) Won Grand Final (Sydney , 80–65)
Jan Stirling
1997
2nd
14
4
77.7
Won Semi Final (Sydney , 58–54) Lost Grand Final (Sydney , 56–61)
Jan Stirling
1998
2st
9
3
75.0
Lost Semi Final (Sydney , 42–61) Won Preliminary Final (AIS , 81–54) Won Grand Final (Sydney , 67–57)
Jan Stirling
1998–99
3rd
12
9
57.1
Won Semi Final (Melbourne , 63–54) Lost Preliminary Final (Perth , 46–67)
Jan Stirling
1999–00
2nd
13
8
61.9
Won Semi Final (Canberra , 91–84) Lost Grand Final (Canberra , 50–67)
Jan Stirling
2000–01
3rd
15
6
71.4
Lost Semi Final (Dandenong , 71–83)
Jan Stirling
2001–02
1st
17
4
80.9
Lost Semi Final (Canberra , 62–66) Lost Preliminary Final (Sydney , 64–66)
Jan Stirling
2002–03
4th
12
9
57.1
Lost Semi Final (Sydney , 70–72)
Jan Stirling
2003–04
3rd
13
8
61.9
Won Semi Final (Canberra , 72–63) Lost Preliminary Final (Sydney , 61–65)
Jan Stirling
2004–05
4th
13
8
61.9
Lost Semi Final (Sydney , 93–94)
Chris Lucas
Adelaide Fellas
2005–06
2nd
14
7
66.6
Lost Semi Final (Dandenong , 70–75) Lost Preliminary Final (Canberra , 81–83)
Chris Lucas
Adelaide Lightning
2006–07
3rd
15
6
71.4
Won Semi Final (Dandenong , 66–61) Lost Preliminary Final (Canberra , 74–82)
Chris Lucas
2007–08
1st
21
3
87.5
Lost Semi Final (Sydney , 71–90) Won Preliminary Final (Dandenong , 74–64) Won Grand Final (Sydney , 92–82)
Vicki Valk
2008–09
4th
15
7
68.1
Won Elimination Final (Bendigo , 81–73) Lost Semi Final (Townsville , 78–91)
Vicki Valk
2009–10
6th
13
9
59.0
Did not qualify
Vicki Valk
2010–11
9th
3
19
13.6
Did not qualify
Stephen Breheny
2011–12
1st
18
4
81.8
Lost Semi Final (Bulleen , 70–73) Lost Preliminary Final (Dandenong , 78–91)
Peter Buckle
2012–13
3rd
18
6
75.0
Lost Semi Final (Townsville , 53–60)
Peter Buckle
2013–14
5th
12
12
50.0
Did not qualify
Peter Buckle Richard Dickel
2014–15
7th
7
15
31.8
Did not qualify
Jeremi Moule
2015–16
7th
10
14
41.6
Did not qualify
Tracy York
2016–17
8th
3
21
12.5
Did not qualify
Chris Lucas
2017–18
5th
11
10
52.3
Did not qualify
Chris Lucas
2018–19
3rd
13
8
61.9
Won Semi Final (Melbourne , 2–0) Lost Grand Final (Canberra , 1–2)
Chris Lucas
2019–20
4th
12
9
57.1
Lost Semi Final (Southside , 0–2)
Chris Lucas
2020
6th
5
8
38.5
Did not qualify
Chris Lucas
2021–22
4th
10
7
58.8
Lost Semi Final (Melbourne Boomers , 0–2)
Chris Lucas
2022–23
7th
5
16
23.8
Did not qualify
Natalie Hurst
2023–24
7th
8
13
38.0
Did not qualify
Natalie Hurst
Regular season
376
229
62.2
5 Minor Premierships
Finals
19
25
43.2
5 WNBL Championships
Source: Adelaide Lightning Archived 22 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine
Statistics
Players
Current roster
2024–25 Adelaide Lightning roster
Players
Coaches
Pos.
No.
Nat.
Name
Ht.
G
3
Basham, Brooke
1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
F
5
Pineau, Georgia
1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
G/F
7
Talbot, Stephanie (C)
1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
G
9
Simons, Jess
1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
F
10
Freer, Maddy
1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
G
14
Borlase, Isobel
1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
F
18
Gordon, Ella
1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
F
19
Andrews, Haylee
1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
F
21
Turner, Brianna (I)
1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
F
22
Graham, Grace
1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
G
24
Dean, Japreece (I)
1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)
F
34
Bourne, Isabelle
1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
G/F
41
Brazel, Tayla
1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Matt Clarke
Georgia Crouch
Legend
(C) Team captain(DP) Development player(I) Import player Injured
Updated: 17 December 2024
Honour roll
WNBL Championships:
5 (1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2007/08)
WNBL Finals Appearances:
19 (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2001/02, 2002/03, 2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2011/12, 2012/13)
WNBL Grand Final appearances:
7 (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999/2000, 2007/08)
WNBL Most Valuable Players:
Rachael Sporn (1996, 1997), Suzy Batkovic (2012, 2013)
WNBL Grand Final MVPs:
Rachael Sporn (1994, 1995), Michelle Brogan (1996), Jo Hill (1998), Renae Camino (2008)
WNBL Coach of the Year:
Jan Stirling (1993), Peter Buckle (2012)
WNBL Rookie of the Year:
Kamala Lamshed (2002)
References
External links
Franchise Arenas Personnel
Chair
Bruce Sprangler
General manager
Mandy Spear
Head coach
Chris Lucas
Retired numbers Seasons WNBL Championships Sponsors
Current teams Defunct teams Associated Related Others
Professional sports teams based in
Adelaide Australian rules football Baseball Basketball Bowls Cricket Field hockey Ice hockey Netball Soccer Water polo