The 2020 WNBL season was the 41st season of the competition since its establishment in 1981.[1] The Canberra Capitals were the two-time defending champions, but were defeated in the semi-finals by Melbourne. The Southside Flyers won the Grand Final, defeating the Townsville Fire, 99–82.[2] The Flyers took home the franchise's fourth WNBL title overall, this being their first since rebranding as Southside.

WNBL season
LeagueWomen's National Basketball League
SportBasketball
Duration11 November 2020 – 20 December 2020
Number of teams8
TV partner(s)ABC
Fox Sports
Regular season
Top seedSouthside Flyers
Season MVPStephanie Talbot (ADL)
Top scorerLiz Cambage (STH)
Finals
ChampionsSouthside Flyers
  Runners-upTownsville Fire
Finals MVPLeilani Mitchell (STH)
WNBL seasons

Chemist Warehouse was again the WNBL's naming rights partner for this season, after signing a three-year deal in July 2018.[3] Spalding again provided equipment including the official game ball, alongside iAthletic supplying team apparel for the fourth consecutive season.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a North Queensland hub was set to host the season.[4] The season was originally 2020–21 and would be traditionally played over several months across the summer, however this season's scheduling had been condensed. The six-week season saw Townsville, Cairns and Mackay host a 52-game regular season fixture, plus a four-game final series (2 x semi-finals, preliminary final and grand final). Each team contested 13 games starting on 11 November, with the grand final scheduled for 20 December.[5]

Player movement

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Standings

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# WNBL Championship ladder
Team W L PCT GP
1 Southside Flyers 11 2 84.6 13
2 Townsville Fire 9 4 69.2 13
3 Canberra Capitals 9 4 69.2 13
4 Melbourne Boomers 9 4 69.2 13
5 Sydney Uni Flames 5 8 38.5 13
6 Adelaide Lightning 5 8 38.5 13
7 Perth Lynx 4 9 30.8 13
8 Bendigo Spirit 0 13 0.0 13

Finals

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Statistics

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Individual statistic leaders

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Category Player Statistic
Points per game Liz Cambage (STH) 23.6 PPG
Rebounds per game Anneli Maley (SYD) 12.1 RPG
Assists per game Leilani Mitchell (STH) 6.5 APG
Steals per game Alison Schwagmeyer (SYD) 2.2 SPG
Blocks per game Liz Cambage (STH) 1.9 BPG

Individual game highs

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Category Player Statistic
Points Liz Cambage (STH) 35
Rebounds Anneli Maley (SYD) 20
Assists Tessa Lavey (BEN) 11
Leilani Mitchell (STH)
Steals Stephanie Talbot (ADL) 7
Blocks Liz Cambage (STH) 6

Awards

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Player of the Round

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Round # Player Ref.
Round 1 Stephanie Talbot (ADL) [6]
Round 2 Liz Cambage (STH) [7]
Round 3 Shyla Heal (TSV) [8]
Round 4 Darcee Garbin (PER) [9]
Round 5 Lauren Mansfield (SYD) [10]

Team of the Round

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Round # Team Ref.
Round 1 Maddison Rocci (CBR) Tess Madgen (MEL) Stephanie Talbot (ADL) Cayla George (MEL) Liz Cambage (STH) [11]
Round 2 Jade Melbourne (CBR) Shyla Heal (TSV) Lauren Nicholson (TSV) Lauren Scherf (SYD) Liz Cambage (STH) (2) [12]
Round 3 Shyla Heal (TSV) (2) Stephanie Talbot (ADL) (2) Anneli Maley (SYD) Darcee Garbin (PER) Liz Cambage (STH) (3) [13]
Round 4 Katie Ebzery (PER) Lauren Nicholson (TSV) (2) Darcee Garbin (PER) (2) Ezi Magbegor (MEL) Liz Cambage (STH) (4) [14]
Round 5 Lauren Mansfield (SYD) Rebecca Cole (STH) Anneli Maley (SYD) (2) Cayla George (MEL) (2) Zitina Aokuso (TSV) [15]

Postseason Awards

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Award Winner Position Team
Most Valuable Player Stephanie Talbot Guard/Forward Adelaide Lightning[16]
Grand Final MVP Leilani Mitchell Guard Southside Flyers
Defensive Player of the Year Stephanie Talbot Guard/Forward Adelaide Lightning
Sixth Woman of the Year Zitina Aokuso Forward/Center Townsville Fire
Youth Player of the Year Shyla Heal Guard Townsville Fire
Coach of the Year Shannon Seebohm Coach Townsville Fire
Leading Scorer Award Liz Cambage Center Southside Flyers
Leading Rebounder Award Anneli Maley Forward Sydney Uni Flames
Golden Hands Award Leilani Mitchell Guard Southside Flyers
All-WNBL First Team Katie Ebzery Guard Perth Lynx
Lauren Nicholson Guard Townsville Fire
Stephanie Talbot Guard/Forward Adelaide Lightning
Cayla George Forward/Center Melbourne Boomers
Liz Cambage Center Southside Flyers
All-WNBL Second Team Shyla Heal Guard Townsville Fire
Maddison Rocci Guard/ Canberra Capitals
Tess Madgen Guard Melbourne Boomers
Sara Blicavs Forward Southside Flyers
Ezi Magbegor Forward/Center Melbourne Boomers

Team captains and coaches

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Team Captain Coach
Adelaide Lightning Stephanie Talbot Chris Lucas
Bendigo Spirit Tessa Lavey Tracy York
Canberra Capitals Kelsey Griffin / Marianna Tolo (co) Paul Goriss
Melbourne Boomers Madeleine Garrick / Cayla George (co) Guy Molloy
Perth Lynx Katie Ebzery Ryan Petrik
Southside Flyers Jenna O'Hea Cheryl Chambers
Sydney Uni Flames Lauren Mansfield / Alison Schwagmeyer (co) Katrina Hibbert
Townsville Fire[17] Gaze, Murray, Nicholson, Payne (group) Shannon Seebohm

References

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  1. ^ WNBL official website
  2. ^ "Flyers reach potential earn redemption for WNBL championship". wnbl.basketball.
  3. ^ "CHEMIST WAREHOUSE SUPPORTING WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AS NAMING RIGHTS PARTNER OF WNBL AND AUSTRALIAN OPALS". Women's National Basketball League. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  4. ^ Elkerton, Matthew; Charles, Caitlan (22 September 2020). "Townsville launches bid to host bubble for upcoming WNBL season". TownsvilleBulletin.com.au. Retrieved 22 September 2020. A council report has detailed a proposal to host, and be central to, the 2020/21 WNBL season within a coronavirus 'bubble'. It's understood the WNBL has plans to host the games wholly within North Queensland, taking advantage of state government grants funding.
  5. ^ "QUEENSLAND SET TO HOST 2020 CHEMIST WAREHOUSE WNBL SEASON". wnbl.basketball. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  6. ^ "2020 Chemist Warehouse WNBL Player of the Round". youtube.com.
  7. ^ "Player of the Round – Round 2". youtube.com.
  8. ^ "Player of the Round – Round 3". facebook.com/TheWNBL.
  9. ^ "WNBL - Darcee Garbin - "Player of the Round" for Round 4, 2020 Chemist Warehouse WNBL season". facebook.com/TheWNBL.
  10. ^ "WNBL – Player of the Round – Round 5". facebook.com/TheWNBL.
  11. ^ "Round 1 2020 Chemist Warehouse WNBL Team of the Round". youtube.com.
  12. ^ "Team of the Round – Round 2". youtube.com.
  13. ^ "Team of the Round – Round 3". facebook.com/TheWNBL.
  14. ^ "WNBL - Round 4 "Team of the Week" - 2020 Chemist Warehouse WNBL". facebook.com/TheWNBL.
  15. ^ "WNBL – Team of the Round – Round 5". facebook.com/TheWNBL.
  16. ^ "STEPH TALBOT NAMED 2020 CHEMIST WAREHOUSE WNBL MVP". wnbl.basketball.
  17. ^ "FIRE UNVEIL LEADERSHIP GROUP". wnbl.basketball. 11 October 2019.
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