Adelaide Lightning

Adelaide Lightning
Leagues	WNBL
Founded	1993
History	Adelaide Lightning 1993–present
Arena	Adelaide Arena Findon, South Australia Australia
Capacity	8,000
Team colors	Red      Yellow      Blue      White
Head coach	Tracy York
Championships	5 (1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2008)

The Adelaide Lightning are an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). 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 Adelaide 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 clubs 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, 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).

Current roster

Adelaide Lightning roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. F 2 McKendrick, Mollie 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) F 3 Ruef, Mikaela 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) G/F 4 Ciabattoni, Alex 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) G 5 Mitchell, Leilani 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) G 6 Ortlepp, Taylor 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) G 7 Robinson, Tara 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) G 8 Pirini, Mikayla 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) F 9 Bowen, Kelly 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) G/F 11 Dombkins, Mikaela 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) F 12 Good, Jessica 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) C 13 Nagy, Ieva 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) G 15 Yaeger, Morgan 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) F 20 Standish, Kayla 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) F 21 Bygate, Jessica 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	Head coach Tracy York Assistant coach(es) Jodie Bell Simon Crowden General manager Dean Parker Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 15/12/2015

References

External links

• Official WNBL website
• Official Adelaide Lightning website