AFTER leading her side to a finals berth for the 2023/24 season, Melbourne Boomers star Jordin Canada claimed the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL)’s highest individual honour, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
At the competition’s awards event on Monday night, the WNBL’s best performers from the season were recognised after an extremely competitive fixture from Australia’s premier basketball league.
Canada was awarded the Suzy Batkovic Medal, having produced an outstanding season as the leader of Melbourne’s offence, and played an extremely important role in the team securing the third spot in the standings heading into the postseason.
There was plenty of hype surrounding her landing in the WNBL, having established herself as one of the big guns of the WNBA in recent seasons. She was always going to be one of the biggest frontrunners for the Suzy Batkovic Medal, but got some tough competition from new L.A. Sparks Teammate and Perth Wildcats gun Aari McDonald.
However, McDonald went down with injury mid-season, essentially locking in Canada as the WNBL’s MVP.
She performed strongly in nearly all key statistical categories, posting averages of 15.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 3.1 steals per game, with the last two league-high figures.
Not only was she extremely consistent (after brushing off the cobwebs in the opening rounds in a shaky start to her time in Australia), Canada was also an outstanding performer in big moments for the Boomers.
The Boomers suffered injuries to key players over the course of the season, and looked in real danger of dropping out of the finals race due to a lack of key personnel. However, Canada kept them afloat, and drove the team to some unlikely wins and a spot inside the top-four come season’s end.
When Melbourne needed to win in the final round to secure third spot, the star guard knocked down basket after basket in the fourth quarter, and sank the game-winning free throws to ensured the Boomers locked in a matchup against the Southside Flyers, who slid to second spot behind the Townsville Fire.
Speaking of the Fire, head coach Shannon Seebohm snagged the Coach of the Year award, while Alex Sharp was awarded the Betty Watson Breakout Player of the Year. Sydney Flames‘ Lauren Nicholson was rewarded for her lockdown efforts this season with the Robyn Maher Defensive Player of the Year, and Leilani Mitchell had a major impact off the bench and was named the Sixth Woman of the Year.
WNBL Award Winners
Suzy Batkovic Medal (MVP): Jordin Canada (Melbourne Boomers)
Fan MVP: Jade Melbourne (UC Capitals)
Robyn Maher Defensive Player of the Year: Lauren Nicholson (Sydney Flames)
Sixth Woman of the Year: Leilani Mitchell (Southside Flyers)
Coach of the Year: Shannon Seebohm (Townsville Fire)
Betty Watson Breakout Player of the Year: Alex Sharp (UC Capitals)
All-WNBL First Team
Jordin Canada (Melbourne Boomers)
Jade Melbourne (UC Capitals)
Lauren Nicholson (Sydney Flames)
Isobel Borlase (Adelaide Lightning)
Mercedes Russell (Southside Flyers)
All-WNBL Second Team
Sami Whitcomb (Townsville Fire)
Naz Hillmon (Melbourne Boomers)
Aari McDonald (Perth Lynx)
Didi Richards (Sydney Flames)
Woods wonders as Fire catch Lightning in a bottle
AN EXCELLENT performance and game-winner from Townsville Fire star Courtney Woods has led her side to a thrilling one-point win over the Adelaide Lightning at Adelaide 36ers Arena on Friday night. The Fire had been one of the better sides in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) to start the season, but sustained a hefty […]
Lynx make it two on the trot in terrific weekend
IT WAS a wild weekend in Perth that saw four wins in four games for the Western Australian sides. Things kicked off on Wednesday with the Perth Lynx hosting the Townsville Fire and it was all Lynx in this one as the home team led from start to finish. Though Alicia Froling proved tough to […]
Action aplenty in Perth over exciting weekend
THE PERTH Lynx will kick off round five action of the WNBL season against the Townsville Fire on Wednesday night as they seek redemption from the narrow four-point loss they suffered in Round Two. The Lynx have since won three consecutive games and sit second on the WNBL table, the Fire close behind in third […]
Perth’s promising start continues as Lynx douse Flames
PERTH Lynx have improved to 3-1 on the WNBL season after an enthralling comeback victory over the Sydney Flames. The Flames, now 1-3 for the year, came into the contest after a blowout loss to the Adelaide Lightning on Wednesday night, whilst Perth had over a week of rest since its last outing against the […]
WNBL Wrapped – Round 4
OVER THE weekend, the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) returned for the fourth week of the 2024/25 season, and the action was as tight as ever across the courts. With a whopping six games taking place from Wednesday to Sunday, the fourth round of the fixture delivered some eye-catching results, including a season-first win for […]
WNBL Wrapped – Round 3
THERE were some big scores posted across Round 3 of the 2024/25 season in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) over the weekend, with teams starting to find some cohesion on the offensive end. The round delivered no shortage of entertainment, from huge individual efforts to game-winners on the buzzer, there were a lot of […]
Wildcats and Lynx looking for crucial wins
REIGNING MVP Bryce Cotton is set to return on Friday night as the Perth Wildcats tackle the SEM Phoenix at RAC Arena. Perth’s superstar has missed the last five games after suffering a fractured rib in the Round 5 loss to New Zealand. Cotton said that the injury changed the way he was living day-to-day, […]
Whitcomb continues winning start to WNBL season
THE FIRST two and a half rounds of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) season has seen the Bendigo Spirit emerge as the form team of the competition, largely on the back of some MVP-level performances from Sami Whitcomb. Coming into Round 3, the Spirit held an unbeaten record of three wins from three matches, […]
WNBL Wrapped – Round 2
THE WOMEN’S National Basketball League (WNBL) returned for Round 2 of the 2024/25 season over the weekend, with six games taking place from Thursday to Sunday. Just two teams remain unbeaten while a pair of sides are looking for their first win, but all matches were hard fought at times and some of the stars […]
