Perth Lynx

Perth Lynx
Leagues	WNBL
Founded	1988
History	Perth Breakers 1988; 1990–2001 Perth Lynx 2001–2010; 2015–present West Coast Waves 2010–2015
Arena	Bendat Basketball Centre
Arena Capacity	2,000
Location	Perth, Western Australia
Team colors	Red and black
Team manager	Nick Marvin
Head coach	Andy Stewart
Team captain	Tessa Lavey
Ownership	Jack Bendat
Championships	1 (1992)
Website	PerthLynx.com

The Perth Lynx are an Australian women's professional basketball team in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). Based in Perth, Western Australia, the Lynx are the only team representing Western Australia in the WNBL.^[1] The club was owned by Basketball Western Australia from 2001 to 2015 until Perth Wildcats chairman and owner Dr. Jack Bendat purchased the licence of the team in April 2015.^[2][3]

History

Perth Breakers (1988–2001)

Originally formed as the Perth Breakers in 1988, the club was successful for many years under that moniker. The Breakers appeared in the WNBL finals from 1991 to 1996, winning a championship in 1992 under super coach Tom Maher. Australian basketball legends such as Robyn Maher, Tully Bevilaqua and Michele Timms played for the Breakers during this period. After missing the finals in 1997, the Breakers appeared in three more finals campaigns over the next three years.

Perth Lynx (2001–2010)

After a change of ownership in 2001, the Breakers were re-branded as the Perth Lynx. In the years up until 2010, the team did not see much success. Many years of mediocre performances towards the bottom of the ladder, which included setting a WNBL record for the longest ever losing streak, led the team to re-evaluate its operations. Regardless of the team's lack of on-court success, the Lynx were able to lure some star players to the program including Carly Wilson, Shelley Hammonds, Samantha Richards, Rohanee Cox and Deanna Smith.

West Coast Waves (2010–2015)

In 2010, David Herbert was appointed as head coach of the newly dubbed West Coast Waves. The administration of the program was largely focused on rebranding and developing the program in the off-season and the result was a new team name, uniforms and team colours in time for the 2010–11 WNBL season. Following the appointment of Herbert, home-grown player Tully Bevilaqua was also signed for the 2010–11 season. The 2010–11 season saw the team finish with a win/loss record of 8–14, its most successful season in over a decade.

In February 2012, New Zealander Kennedy Kereama was appointed the head coach of the West Coast Waves following limited team success under Herbert.^[4] Kereama assembled a new look Waves line-up, bringing in interstate recruits Deanna Smith, Amelia Todhunter and Hayley Moffat as well as New Zealand representatives Lisa Wallbutton and Antonia Edmondson. Locals Natalie Burton and Darcee Garbin were also recruited to the team, joining returning players Melissa Marsh, Shani Amos, Kaye Tucker and Zoe Harper in the West Coast line-up. Despite its strongest recruiting effort in more than a decade, it went from bad to worse for the Waves as they finished bottom of the ladder for three consecutive seasons, all under Kereama.

New ownership (2015)

On 16 April 2015, Perth Wildcats chairman and owner Dr. Jack Bendat and his family purchased the licence of Western Australia's Women's National Basketball League franchise. The team was subsequently renamed the Perth Lynx in order to operate under Perth Wildcats management.^[2] Three days later, former Perth Wildcats assistant coach Andy Stewart was named the head coach of the Lynx for the 2015–16 season.^[5]

Return of the Lynx (2015–present)

The club made early big name signings in Natalie Burton, Louella Tomlinson and Sami Whitcomb before going really local with two SEABL wing player signings in Izzy Chilcott and Klara Wischer, and 2014 WNBA draft selection Carley Mijović.^[6] The club's seventh signing for the 2015–16 season came in returning college player Stacey Barr, a 172 cm guard from Werribee, Victoria who played four years of college basketball for the University of Idaho.^[7] Next came the signing of Opals' guard Tessa Lavey^[8] and the second import spot, which was filled by WNBA player Betnijah Laney. Laney played college basketball for Rutgers University and was selected by the Chicago Sky with the 17th overall pick in the 2015 WNBA draft.^[9] The team's final roster spot was filled by New Zealander Toni Edmondson, a veteran in the WNBL who played for the WSBL's Joondalup Wolves in 2015.^[10]

On 1 October, the day of the Lynx season launch, Tessa Lavey was named the inaugural captain of the new-look franchise.^[11] In their season opener against the Sydney Uni Flames at the WA Basketball Centre, the Lynx fought hard to grind out an 81–70 win with Sami Whitcomb and Louella Tomlinson leading the way, scoring 18 and 17 points respectively.^[12] Throughout the season, Andy Stewart was named WNBL Coach of the Month for November,^[13] Betnijah Laney was named WNBL Player of the Month for January,^[14] and Sami Whitcomb earned an equal league-high eight Team of the Week nominations.^[15] The Lynx finished the 2015–16 regular season in second place with a 16–8 win/loss record, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2000,^[16] and advancing through to the grand final for the first since 1999.^[17] In the best-of-three Grand Final series, the Lynx were outclassed by the defending champion Townsville Fire, losing the series 2–0.

Season-by-season records

Source: Year By Year

Current roster

Perth Lynx roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. 1.5 !G 1 AUS ! Lavey, Tessa (C) 7000172000000000000♠1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) 1.5 !G 7 NZL ! Edmondson, Antonia 7000181000000000000♠1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) 4.5 !F/C 10 AUS ! Burton, Natalie 7000194000000000000♠1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 3.5 !F 11 AUS ! Mijović, Carley 7000196000000000000♠1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 20 AUS ! Fejo, Tahlia (DP) 4.5 !F/C 25 AUS ! Grant, Ashleigh 7000187000000000000♠1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 3.5 !F 30 USA ! Butler, Brianna (I) 7000180000000000000♠1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 2.5 !G/F 32 USA ! Whitcomb, Sami 7000178000000000000♠1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 1.5 !G 35 AUS ! Phillips, Tenaya 7000178000000000000♠1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 3.5 !F 40 USA ! Lee, Kisha 7000182000000000000♠1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 5.0 !C 44 CAN ! Hamblin, Ruth (I) 7000198000000000000♠1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	Head coach Andy Stewart Assistant coach(es) Ryan Petrik Tom Knowles Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 21 November 2016

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Perth Lynx Facebook page