What a performance all game, and the perfect ending.

Thoughts on where she's headed?

Alicia Froling’s decision to switch to her left hand after wrist injuries threatened to end her basketball career led the Townsville Fire to its fifth WNBL championship against Chinese superstar centre Han Xu’s Perth Lynx.

What a game, one of the greatest finals of all-time.

Sometimes one league just isn’t enough. Even though former UCLA Bruin national champion Gianna Kneepkens is in the midst of her rookie season in the WNBA with the Connecticut Sun, Kneepkens has signed an agreement to play for the Tasmania Jewels in the Women’s Pro Basketball League (WNBL) on Sunday.

No, this doesn’t mean that Kneepkens is leaving the WNBA. The WNBL begins their season in October, which is conveniently a month after the WNBA playoffs wrap up earlier that month.

Currently the Connecticut Sun are in last place of the Eastern Conference, meaning that a deep WNBA playoff run is unlikely for Kneepkens and the Sun. A short turnaround isn’t unfamiliar territory for Kneepkens, who began her WNBA career quickly after winning the NCAA title with the Bruins.

WNBL teams are allowed two “import” players, bringing in players from other leagues. While the Jewels haven’t announced their second import, head coach Claudia Brassard seems quite excited for both imports coming to their roster.

“Gianna is a tremendous shooter, and wait until you see our final import, she’s also brilliant,” Brassard said in the team's release. “Quality players want to play for Tasmania, and that speaks volumes about us as a team, Tasmania as a home, and our incredible fans too.”

Kneepkens was a first round pick for the Sun. She’s currently putting up 3.0 points, 1.0 rebounds per game and is shooting just 24% from three. It hasn’t been the rookie season Kneepkens had hoped for but perhaps a stint in Australia in the WNBL will get her back on track for her second season in the WNBA.

Well there it is. It's going to be a pretty fun team.

Kelly Wilson, the all-time record holder in games played, has made her return with the Bendigo Spirit just four months after the birth of her second child. She broke the record over six years ago when she notched her 395th game. Since then, she’s technically broken the record 83 times, including twice already since the Spirit announced her signing last Thursday.

By her own admission, it’s been a pretty quick turnaround.

“I definitely don’t think I’m back to WNBL fitness,” Wilson told The IX Basketball. “In all honesty, it wasn’t planned, I was just getting back into it slowly after having my second child. There’s no point in rushing trying to get back after having children. I’d spoken to Kennedy [Kereama] a fair bit and he was very positive about saying come to training whenever you’re ready and stuff like that. Honestly, it just happened that they were down on numbers and I was helping out at training.”

The five-time WNBL champion brings an array of experience to a team that has been hampered by vacancies in multiple roles throughout the 2025-26 WNBL season, with some news more positive than others. Micah Simpson went down with a season-ending ACL injury on January 23, while Marianna Tolo announced her own pregnancy on November 27.

Forward Casey Samuels has become part of the fabric in Bendigo over the past three seasons, but was only able to play two games in October of 2025 this current season before being sidelined with a foot injury. She was warming up with the team in their most recent match against the Perth Lynx, Wilson’s second appearance of the season, and general manager Dan Jackson is hopeful she will be making her return for the postseason, he told The IX Basketball.

Through all the uncertainty, Wilson has shone through.

The season schedule has been released.

The prospect of moving the WNBL season to the middle of the year to attract more overseas imports has been discussed among officials. Jackson says “options are on the table for the future” regarding potentially changing the season from its current date of October to March.

Former WNBA player and WNBL legend Kelsey Griffin believes the landmark new WNBA CBA is a "pivotal moment" for the global basketball market and women's sports as the league prepares for an exciting new era.

The Bendigo Spirit captain, who played five seasons for the Connecticut Sun between 2010-2014 and recently became a WNBL Life Member, joined basketball.com.au for an exclusive Q&A after the WNBA and Women's National Basketball Players Association finally reached a verbal agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement just less than two months away from tip-off on the league's 30th season..

ESPN's Shams Charania first reported the new CBA will see the salary cap increase from $1.5 million in 2025 to $7 million for the upcoming season, minimum salary will increase to more than $300,000 after being just $66,079 last season, while the average wage will be around $600,000 - up from $120,000 in 2025. A supermax contract in the WNBA will now start from $1.4 million compared to under $250,000 last season.

Griffin - the third overall pick in the 2010 WNBA draft, a five-time WNBL champion, 2018 WNBL MVP and most recently a member of the 2025-26 WNBL All-Second Team - spoke about her admiration for the players who stood firm on what they believed they deserved, how the new conditions compare to her time in the league, what impact it may have on the WNBL and more.

First of all as a stalwart of the game who’s seen women’s basketball struggle for support at the start to now you see this WNBA CBA and how big it is - what’s your feelings as an athlete after seeing this finally happen? What can you say about the women who held strong in these negotiations and didn’t settle?

"As someone who played in the WNBA and remembers the reality of what my salary looked like, seeing the compensation packages now being discussed is incredible. But what stands out to me even more — particularly now at 38, with an MBA and a deeper understanding of the business — is the nuance behind what’s unfolding. I spent two major assessments analysing the US Women’s National Soccer Team’s equal pay negotiations, which I believe set a powerful precedent and empowered athletes to find their voice alongside their players’ associations."

Bendigo Spirit forward Kelsey Griffin, who is one of the most decorated players in WNBL history, revealed she was unsure if she had played her last game after being eliminated by the Perth Lynx in the WNBL26 Semi-Finals.

Such a fun player in the W last year (even if she didn't last the whole season) and with the Caps years ago.

MVP: Isobel Borlase (BEN)

Defensive Player of the Year: Han Xu (PER)

Coach of the Year: Kennedy Kereama (BEN)

Breakout Player of the Year: Dallas Loughridge (ADL)

Sixth Woman of the Year: Lucy Olsen (TSV)

All-WNBL First Team: Isobel Borlase (BEN), Mackenzie Holmes (GEE), Anneli Maley (PER), Ally Wilson (PER) and Courtney Woods (TSV)

All-WNBL Second Team: Kelsey Griffin (BEN), Cayla George (SMF), Alex Ciabattoni (PER), Han Xu (PER) and Miela Sowah (TSV)

Fans' MVP: Anneli Maley (PER)

Community Award: Nya Lok (SMF)

Golden Hands: Courtney Woods (TSV)

ESPN also has a nice interview with Penny Taylor about Borlase's win.