Appearing in the Williamstown, Altona and Laverton Star.
WOMENS basketball in Altona is about to receive a facelift. No longer is the club prepared to lose talented players to high profile rivals from the states north and east.
The Gators are making changes to become a western suburbs powerhouse and the ball is already rolling with the signing of Australian basketball star Brigitte Ardossi (188-F-87, agency: Josep and Nicolas, college: Georgia Tech).
The 24-year-old began her career as a junior in Altona before being forced to leave in search of more challenging opportunities. She went on to play WNBL for the Canberra Capitals, WNBA for the Atlanta Dream and college basketball for Georgia Tech.
Now Ardossi will return to her former club for the coming season, eager to ensure future talented juniors are not forced to move around like she was.
I played for the Altona Gators when I was really young and they didnt really have a higher division team that I could progress to. That made me leave the club, Ardossi said.
It made me realise that the western suburbs doesnt really have a successful team in a high division that our girls can really aspire to play for. I feel like coming back and playing will bring the profile up. The next goal will be to bring this team up to Championship Division.
Ardossi also plans to educate some of the juniors at Altona about the opportunities basketball can lead to outside of Australia.
For me not having those avenues in the West, college just seemed like the only option. The only time I made a state team was in under 20s so I was under the radar and a late starter but I knew that was my goal, she said.
Ill be telling them about that because it is a great option. There is only one Victorian state team that girls in this area can make and the sad reality is not everyone can make the team but there are also other options.
Ardossis Altona teammates are already hard at work preparing for the new season in the hope of improving on their semi-final showing in last years Big V competition.
Assistant coach Elisha Hogan said the club was rapt to sign Ardossi and was hopeful it would lead to an improvement on last seasons semi final defeat.
The girls have been back into it now for a good month. We are at Altona beach every Monday doing fitness and we have recruited a couple of other girls as well. We are working hard and we are looking forward to getting started. Courtesy of: bigv.com.au
Logan Thunder tab Laurie Koehn and Tegan Cunningham - May 25, 2013
POSTED BY:
EUROBASKET NEWS
follow us on
The Logan Thunder have secured the services of Laurie Koehn (173-G-82, college: Kansas St.) and Tegan Cunningham (185-F-88, college: Oklahoma St.) for the next season.
Laurie Koehn comes back to the Thunder after a solid season with the team. The guard notched 15.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in WNBL last season. She earned All-WNBL Honourable Mention. Previously Laurie Koehn had stints in Poland, Turkey, France, the United Kingdom and WNBA [read more]
The Logan Thunder have secured the services of Laurie Koehn (173-G-82, college: Kansas St.) and Tegan Cunningham (185-F-88, college: Oklahoma St.) for the next season. Laurie Koehn comes back to the Thunder after a solid season with the team. The guard notched 15.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in WNBL last season. She earned All-WNBL Honourable Mention. Previously Laurie Koehn had stints in Poland, Turkey, France, the United Kingdom and WNBA. She was the member of the USA National Team back in 2004. Tegan Cunningham spent the last season with the Dandenong Rangers. The forward averaged 9.3 points and 4.8 boards per game in the WNBL. Tegan Cunninghan had stints with the Adelaite Link and Rockhampton Cyclones before. She was the 2012 WNBL champion with the Rangers.
Capitals grab gem with a bright future - May 21, 2013
POSTED BY:
EUROBASKET NEWS
follow us on
The Canberra Capitals have locked away one of the brightest young talents in Australian women's basketball, re-signing dynamic scorer Casey Samuels (180-G-94) for another two years.
The 18-year-old - the younger sister of discus world champion Dani - showed glimpses of her immense talent in her first season since graduating from the AIS, but is set to earn increased minutes as she continues to develop her all-round game [read more]
The Canberra Capitals have locked away one of the brightest young talents in Australian women's basketball, re-signing dynamic scorer Casey Samuels (180-G-94) for another two years.
The 18-year-old - the younger sister of discus world champion Dani - showed glimpses of her immense talent in her first season since graduating from the AIS, but is set to earn increased minutes as she continues to develop her all-round game.
While stressing she will need to work hard to reach her full potential, Capitals coach Carrie Graf said the 1.8-metre shooting guard could be a star in the WNBL.
''She starts on the Australian junior team, she's got a scorer's mentality, she's got good athleticism and she's got a good basketball IQ,'' Graf said.
''When she develops her work ethic and decides she wants to be a professional basketballer and put her head down and butt up, I think we're going to see a pretty exciting player over the next few years.
''The first year out of the AIS for the young players is an adjustment.
''The next few years we'll see her mature and evolve to be the best basketballer she can be.
''But she has a lot of things to suggest she can be one hell of a WNBL player and even more.''
Samuels has recently returned from a tour of China with the Australian under-19 women's team, where she scored a game-high 25 points in a win against Brazil.
The Gems won six of their nine games, with Samuels starting in all but one due to a shin injury.
''It gave me a lot of confidence because I didn't play much last season,'' Samuels said.
''Being on the bench was still a learning experience, training and playing with the senior girls and working with someone like [Graf] who has a lot of knowledge behind her.
''I'm really happy to stay with the Capitals and hopefully I can play a bigger role this season.'' Courtesy of: canberratimes.com.au
Rockingham remain clear favourites to claim a maiden Womens State Basketball League championship this year after extending their winning streak to nine games in round 10.
The Flames had expected a stern challenge from Kalamunda and were pushed all the way by the title hopefuls, but proved too strong down the stretch.
League-leading scorer Samantha Whitcomb was again at the forefront for the Flames, knocking down a game-high 33 points to lead her side to victory [read more]
Rockingham remain clear favourites to claim a maiden Womens State Basketball League championship this year after extending their winning streak to nine games in round 10.
The Flames had expected a stern challenge from Kalamunda and were pushed all the way by the title hopefuls, but proved too strong down the stretch.
League-leading scorer Samantha Whitcomb was again at the forefront for the Flames, knocking down a game-high 33 points to lead her side to victory.
It was Whitcombs second-highest tally of the season, bettered only by her monster 47-point haul last month, and lifted her average to 26.5 points a game.
Talisia Bourne (11 points) and Kaye Tucker (182-F-83) (10 points, 11 rebounds) also had a big impact for the home side.
Kalamundas Jennie Rintala registered a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Adrienne Jones (175-G-93) had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Rachel Muenggenborg (13 points) and Melissa Moyle (10) also had an impact on the scoreboard but it wasnt enough for the Suns, who occupy fourth spot on the ladder and are still well-placed with a 7-4 record.
Wanneroo drew level with second-placed Willetton with an 8-3 record after accounting for Mandurah, 64-42 on the road.
The Wolves dominated the first and third periods to run away with the result on the back of 12 points each from Nikita-Lee Martin and Casey Lockwood, and Chelsea Burns nine-point, nine-rebound effort.
Cockburn are still in the finals mix after beating Perth 75-68, while Stirling are on the verge of the top eight following their 81-67 win over South West.
On Friday night, Lakeside beat Perry Lakes 69-64 away from home.
Article by Shayne Hope Courtesy of: http://www.sbl.asn.au
Copyright (c) 1998-2013 Eurobasket Inc. Disclaimer
WARNING:
Do not copy, redistribute, publish or otherwise exploit information that you download from the site !
Do not encumber, license, modify, publish, sell, transfer or transmit, or in any way exploit, any of the
content of the site, nor will you attempt to do so.
