ALTHOUGH her sister Jess may take most of the attention, 20-year-old Hayley McDowell-White showed plenty of promise off the bench as the Southern Districts Spartans defeated the Mackay Meteorettes in the NBL1 North Women’s Grand Final.

The Spartans advanced straight through to the semi finals after finishing atop the standings with a record of 13 wins and one loss in a dominant season. Southern Districts had proven too tough to stop throughout the entire fixture, and it was up to the Meteorettes to slow down the title favourites if they were to keep their championship hopes alive.

The Spartans started the match as emphatically as they possibly could have, showing power on the offensive end and dropping a whopping 34 points in the first 10 minutes to lead by 14 points at the opening change and 20 at the main break. Although the Meteorettes were better in the third quarter, they simply could not make up enough ground as Southern Districts advanced to the big dance.

McDowell-White was excellent off the bench for the victors, emerging as a wildcard talent for the Spartans in the postseason and putting together one of her best performances of 2025 in the penultimate match.

Southern Districts Spartans (96) def. Mackay Meteorettes (79)

Hayley McDowell-White – 17 points, one rebound, one assist

In less than 23 minutes of court time, McDowell-White was able to make a significant impact off the bench, adding an offensive spark to the team to help play a key role as the Spartans kept their title aspirations rolling.

The 20-year-old was injected into the game with less than four minutes to play in the quarter and her side leading by eight points in a strong position. After missing her first attempt from long range, McDowell-White connected on a pair of three-pointers over the span of a couple of minutes, before getting involved as a passer by finding Kalani White with a nice dish to close out the quarter with a productive start.

She was subbed out to the start the second quarter, but returned a couple of minutes into the frame, and continued to punish the opposition from behind the arc, combining well with her sister to knock down her third triple of the match. McDowell-White also made the most of the opposition closing out hard when she got the ball on the perimeter, driving to the cup and finishing inside to cap off a productive half of play.

She had a quieter third quarter after spending five minutes of the period on the bench as the Meteorettes began to snatch some momentum in the match with a much improved performance. McDowell-White was unable to hit the scoreboard but still looked dangerous on the offensive end.

Continuing a familiar trend, McDowell-White spent the first half of the fourth quarter on the pine, and made a near-immediate impact with yet another three-pointer added to her performance, closing out a breakout showing on the big stage.

She finished the match with 17 points to go with a rebound and an assist, shooting 6/10 from the field and an impressive 5/7 from behind the arc. The younger sister is suddenly a massive weapon for the Spartans ahead of their three-game Grand Final series against the Logan Thunder, and gave her side a huge boost in a must-win clash.