2025 WNBL Finals
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| Dates | 22 February – 9 March | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 2024–25 | |||||||||
| Teams | 4 | |||||||||
| MVP | Sami Whitcomb (BEN) | |||||||||
| Semifinalists | Perth Lynx Sydney Flames | |||||||||
| Matches played | 6 | |||||||||
| Attendance | 15,168 (2,528 per match) | |||||||||
| All statistics correct as of 16 March 2025. | ||||||||||
The 2025 WNBL Finals was the postseason tournament of the WNBL's 2024–25 season.[1] The Southside Flyers were the defending champions,[2] but they failed to qualify for Finals this season. The Bendigo Spirit won their third championship title after defeating Townsville, 2–0 in the Grand Final series.[3][4] Sami Whitcomb was named Grand Final MVP and in doing so, Whitcomb became the first player since Lauren Jackson in 2003 to sweep a WNBL Championship, Season MVP, Finals MVP & Leading Scorer Award all in one season.
The WNBL Finals schedule was confirmed 18 February 2025,[5] followed by the Grand Finals series schedule announced 28 February 2025.[6]
Overview
Finals appearances
- The Bendigo Spirit qualified for Finals for the first time since 2015, breaking a nine-season long drought from the WNBL Finals.
- The Perth Lynx qualified for Finals for the fourth consecutive season.
- The Townsville Fire qualified for Finals for the third consecutive season.
- The Sydney Flames qualified for Finals for the first time since 2018, breaking a six-season long drought from the WNBL Finals.
- The Canberra Capitals missed Finals for the third consecutive season.
- The Adelaide Lightning missed Finals for the third consecutive season.
- The Geelong United missed Finals for the first time since 2017 (previously competing as the Melbourne Boomers, prior to the teams licence transfer and relocation).
- The Southside Flyers missed Finals for the first time since 2022.
Standings
| # | 2024–25 WNBL Championship ladder | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GP | |||||
| 1 | Bendigo Spirit | 18 | 3 | 85.7 | 21 | ||||
| 2 | Perth Lynx | 16 | 5 | 76.1 | 21 | ||||
| 3 | Townsville Fire | 15 | 6 | 71.4 | 21 | ||||
| 4 | Sydney Flames | 8 | 13 | 38.0 | 21 | ||||
| 5 | Canberra Capitals | 8 | 13 | 38.0 | 21 | ||||
| 6 | Adelaide Lightning | 7 | 14 | 33.3 | 21 | ||||
| 7 | Geelong United | 6 | 15 | 28.5 | 21 | ||||
| 8 | Southside Flyers | 6 | 15 | 28.5 | 21 | ||||
Bracket
| Semi Finals | Grand Final | ||||||||
| 1 | Bendigo Spirit | 2 | |||||||
| 4 | Sydney Flames | 0 | |||||||
| 1 | Bendigo Spirit | 2 | |||||||
| 3 | Townsville Fire | 0 | |||||||
| 3 | Townsville Fire | 2 | |||||||
| 2 | Perth Lynx | 0 | |||||||
Semi-Finals
(1) Bendigo Spirit vs. (4) Sydney Flames
23 February 2025
3:30 PM (AEDT) |
| Bendigo Spirit | 76–67 | Sydney Flames |
| Scoring by quarter: 27–15, 24–13, 16–21, 9–18 | ||
| Pts: Whitcomb 24 Rebs: Griffin 12 Asts: Burton 4 |
Pts: Tupaea 16 Rebs: Morris 6 Asts: Brancatisano 4 | |
Red Energy Arena, Bendigo, Victoria
Attendance: 1,514 Referees: Joshua Durand, Calia Hanks, Hugh Starkey |
27 February 2025
7:00 PM (AEDT) |
| Sydney Flames | 74–91 | Bendigo Spirit |
| Scoring by quarter: 31–23, 13–30, 23–20, 7–18 | ||
| Pts: Tupaea 24 Rebs: Pitman 7 Asts: George 6 |
Pts: Whitcomb 22 Rebs: Whitcomb 10 Asts: Whitcomb 6 | |
| Bendigo win series, 2–0 [7] | ||
Quaycentre, Sydney, New South Wales
Attendance: 1,603 Referees: Madison Crowley-Long, Calia Hanks, Ruben Woolcock |
| Bendigo won 3–0 in the regular season series |
|---|
(2) Perth Lynx vs. (3) Townsville Fire
22 February 2025
5:00 PM (AWST) |
| Perth Lynx | 87–92 | Townsville Fire |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–27, 20–16, 30–26, 21–23 | ||
| Pts: Wilson 32 Rebs: Maley 15 Asts: Wilson 9 |
Pts: Coffey 36 Rebs: Froling 8 Asts: Woods 10 | |
Bendat Basketball Centre, Perth, Western Australia
Attendance: 1,496 Referees: Scott Bekker, Shannon Jennings, Jack Taylor |
26 February 2025
6:30 PM (AEST) |
| Townsville Fire | 106–76 | Perth Lynx |
| Scoring by quarter: 26–21, 28–19, 24–13, 28–23 | ||
| Pts: Ellis, Woods 18 Rebs: Cox 11 Asts: Ellis 9 |
Pts: Wilson 24 Rebs: Maley 6 Asts: Wilson 7 | |
| Townsville win series, 2–0 [8] | ||
Townsville Entertainment Centre, Townsville, Queensland
Attendance: 3,004 Referees: Scott Beker, Brad Henshaw, Bianca Vernon |
| Perth won 2–1 in the regular season series |
|---|
Grand Final
(1) Bendigo Spirit vs. (3) Townsville Fire
5 March 2025
7:00 PM (AEDT) |
| Bendigo Spirit | 70–60 | Townsville Fire |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–23, 12–10, 13–8, 29–19 | ||
| Pts: Burton 24 Rebs: Griffin, Tolo 9 Asts: Burton 6 |
Pts: Ellis 17 Rebs: Cox, Woods 7 Asts: Cox, Froling 2 | |
Red Energy Arena, Bendigo, Victoria
Attendance: 2,086 Referees: Scott Beker, Shannon Jennings, Jack Taylor |
9 March 2025
2:00 PM (AEST) |
| Townsville Fire | 55–63 | Bendigo Spirit |
| Scoring by quarter: 21–20, 13–13, 7–13, 14–17 | ||
| Pts: Cox 17 Rebs: Coffey, Fowler 7 Asts: Mansfield, Shiels 3 |
Pts: Whitcomb 26 Rebs: Griffin 10 Asts: Burton 9 | |
| Bendigo win series, 2–0 | ||
Townsville Entertainment Centre, Townsville, Queensland
Attendance: 5,465 Referees: Scott Beker, Shannon Jennings, Jack Taylor |
| Bendigo won 3–0 in the regular season series |
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Rosters
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References
- ^ WNBL official website
- ^ "WNBL24 Southside Flyers Cygnett WNBL Champions". wnbl.basketball.
- ^ "Bendigo Spirit claim third WNBL title with grand final game two victory over Townsville Fire". abc.net.au.
- ^ "Bendigo Spirit win the 24/25 Cygnett WNBL Championship!". wnbl.basketball.
- ^ "It All Comes Down to This - Cygnett WNBL 24/25 Semi Finals Fixture Release!". wnbl.basketball.
- ^ "Cygnett WNBL Grand Final - Fixture Release". wnbl.basketball.
- ^ "Spirit end gallant Flames' WNBL25 season". wnbl.basketball.
- ^ "Lynx season ends in Townsville". wnbl.basketball.