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The 13th round of the WNBL season is the Fighting Period Poverty Round, an initiative which started during the 2022-23 season to raise awareness about the issue in Australia. It’s conducted in partnership with Share the Dignity, a national charity providing sanitary products to Australian women in need.
The WNBL is the only professional league in Australia that’s actively pointing to the issues of poverty, homelessness and domestic violence, which almost always take the back seat to sports. The WNBL is using its platform to highlight issues that have a hurtful impact on women’s lives all over the world. Sports are not mere distraction—and they never should be.
But in order for sports to effectively amplify social concerns, the sport itself must be compelling. And luckily for us, there’s been some serious hooping going on in the WNBL in recent weeks, so let’s recap, with our focus being on two Atlanta Dream players.
Hillmon is lone bright spot for struggling Southside
Last year’s champions, the Southside Flyers, are the worst team in the league. With a 4-12 record, they’re third in points scored, but also second to last in points allowed. Only five players on the roster shoot with at least 50 percent accuracy from the floor, two of which have made fewer than three shot attempts in total, so the real number of accurate shooters is three.
The most accurate, and hence the primary focus of their offense, is the Naz Hillmon, who’s averaging 19.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. She’s making 57 percent of her shots and individually looks great. What makes her achievement even more impressive is that her team’s been dealing with several injuries, which not only explain the team’s struggles but also have prevented the Flyers from building proper chemistry.
Amihere, Lynx are on the hunt
Hillmon’s Dream teammate, Laeticia Amihere, hasn’t seen much court time in Atlanta. But in Australia, on the Perth Lynx, one of last season’s finalists, she’s one of the leading characters. Spending 25.7 minutes per game on the court, Amihere is averaging 15.9 points, 6.5 boards and 1.7 steals per game.
In Round 12, the Amihere’s Lynx defeated Hillmon’s Flyers—and it was a narrow one. The Flyers got off to an early lead and at one point were up by 16 points, but with five minutes left in the game the Lynx regained the lead thanks to a 14-0 scoring run. The final score, 86-78 for the Lynx, does not reflect how tough the win was and how unlucky the Flyers remain this season, but it also shouldn’t take away from how good the Lynx are.
League standings
1. Bendigo Spirit (15-2)
2. Perth Lynx (13-4)
3. Townsville Fire (10-5)
4. Sydney Flames (6-9)
5. Geelong United (6-10)
6. Canberra Capitals (5-11)
7. Adelaide Lightning (5-11)
8. Southside Flyers (4-12)
