# Adelaide Lightning

The Adelaide Lightning is 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 Titanium Security 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 club's 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, Jae Kingi-Cross, 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).
On 5 March 2019, Mr Bruce Spangler, Chairman of Arena Stadium Management announced that he and another business person had negotiated with the WNBL to take over the licence from Adelaide Basketball who were going to hand in the WNBL Club licence at the end of the 2018–19 season. A new sustainable model has now been released for the public to be involved in.
In September 2023, the Lightning and Rachael Sporn agreed to un-retired her number 14 jersey, which was originally retired in 2007.

## Season-by-season records

| Season | Standings | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Finals | Head coach |
| Season | Standings | W | L | PCT | Finals | Head coach |
| Adelaide Lightning |||||||
| 1993 | 2nd | 16 | 2 | 88.8 | Lost Semi Final (Sydney, 59–64) Lost Preliminary Final (Perth, 66–68) | Jan Stirling |
| 1994 | 1st | 16 | 2 | 88.8 | Won Semi Final (Melbourne, 84–82) Won Grand Final (Melbourne, 84–77) | Jan Stirling |
| 1995 | 1st | 16 | 2 | 88.8 | Won Semi Final (Sydney, 73–63) Won Grand Final (Melbourne, 50–43) | Jan Stirling |
| 1996 | 2nd | 16 | 2 | 88.8 | Lost Semi Final (Sydney, 54–57) Won Preliminary Final (Perth, 87–55) Won Grand Final (Sydney, 80–65) | Jan Stirling |
| 1997 | 2nd | 14 | 4 | 77.7 | Won Semi Final (Sydney, 58–54) Lost Grand Final (Sydney, 56–61) | Jan Stirling |
| 1998 | 2st | 9 | 3 | 75.0 | Lost Semi Final (Sydney, 42–61) Won Preliminary Final (AIS, 81–54) Won Grand Final (Sydney, 67–57) | Jan Stirling |
| 1998–99 | 3rd | 12 | 9 | 57.1 | Won Semi Final (Melbourne, 63–54) Lost Preliminary Final (Perth, 46–67) | Jan Stirling |
| 1999–00 | 2nd | 13 | 8 | 61.9 | Won Semi Final (Canberra, 91–84) Lost Grand Final (Canberra, 50–67) | Jan Stirling |
| 2000–01 | 3rd | 15 | 6 | 71.4 | Lost Semi Final (Dandenong, 71–83) | Jan Stirling |
| 2001–02 | 1st | 17 | 4 | 80.9 | Lost Semi Final (Canberra, 62–66) Lost Preliminary Final (Sydney, 64–66) | Jan Stirling |
| 2002–03 | 4th | 12 | 9 | 57.1 | Lost Semi Final (Sydney, 70–72) | Jan Stirling |
| 2003–04 | 3rd | 13 | 8 | 61.9 | Won Semi Final (Canberra, 72–63) Lost Preliminary Final (Sydney, 61–65) | Jan Stirling |
| 2004–05 | 4th | 13 | 8 | 61.9 | Lost Semi Final (Sydney, 93–94) | Chris Lucas |
| Adelaide Fellas |||||||
| 2005–06 | 2nd | 14 | 7 | 66.6 | Lost Semi Final (Dandenong, 70–75) Lost Preliminary Final (Canberra, 81–83) | Chris Lucas |
| Adelaide Lightning |||||||
| 2006–07 | 3rd | 15 | 6 | 71.4 | Won Semi Final (Dandenong, 66–61) Lost Preliminary Final (Canberra, 74–82) | Chris Lucas |
| 2007–08 | 1st | 21 | 3 | 87.5 | Lost Semi Final (Sydney, 71–90) Won Preliminary Final (Dandenong, 74–64) Won Grand Final (Sydney, 92–82) | Vicki Valk |
| 2008–09 | 4th | 15 | 7 | 68.1 | Won Elimination Final (Bendigo, 81–73) Lost Semi Final (Townsville, 78–91) | Vicki Valk |
| 2009–10 | 6th | 13 | 9 | 59.0 | Did not qualify | Vicki Valk |
| 2010–11 | 9th | 3 | 19 | 13.6 | Did not qualify | Stephen Breheny |
| 2011–12 | 1st | 18 | 4 | 81.8 | Lost Semi Final (Bulleen, 70–73) Lost Preliminary Final (Dandenong, 78–91) | Peter Buckle |
| 2012–13 | 3rd | 18 | 6 | 75.0 | Lost Semi Final (Townsville, 53–60) | Peter Buckle |
| 2013–14 | 5th | 12 | 12 | 50.0 | Did not qualify | Peter Buckle Richard Dickel |
| 2014–15 | 7th | 7 | 15 | 31.8 | Did not qualify | Jeremi Moule |
| 2015–16 | 7th | 10 | 14 | 41.6 | Did not qualify | Tracy York |
| 2016–17 | 8th | 3 | 21 | 12.5 | Did not qualify | Chris Lucas |
| 2017–18 | 5th | 11 | 10 | 52.3 | Did not qualify | Chris Lucas |
| 2018–19 | 3rd | 13 | 8 | 61.9 | Won Semi Final (Melbourne, 2–0) Lost Grand Final (Canberra, 1–2) | Chris Lucas |
| 2019–20 | 4th | 12 | 9 | 57.1 | Lost Semi Final (Southside, 0–2) | Chris Lucas |
| 2020 | 6th | 5 | 8 | 38.5 | Did not qualify | Chris Lucas |
| 2021–22 | 4th | 10 | 7 | 58.8 | Lost Semi Final (Melbourne Boomers, 0–2) | Chris Lucas |
| 2022–23 | 7th | 5 | 16 | 23.8 | Did not qualify | Natalie Hurst |
| 2023–24 | 7th | 8 | 13 | 38.0 | Did not qualify | Natalie Hurst |
| Regular season | Regular season | 376 | 229 | 62.2 | 5 Minor Premierships | 5 Minor Premierships |
| Finals | Finals | 19 | 25 | 43.2 | 5 WNBL Championships | 5 WNBL Championships |
Source: Adelaide Lightning Archived 22 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine

## Statistics

Adelaide Lightning statistics :
| 2010s ||||||||
| Season | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG |
| 2010–11 | A. Marino (15.2) | D. Walker (6.5) | A. Marino (4.2) | D. Walker (1.9) | D. Walker (1.9) |
| 2011–12 | S. Batkovic (24.6) | S. Batkovic (10.2) | A. Marino (3.5) | S. Batkovic (2.6) | S. Batkovic (1.6) |
| 2012–13 | S. Batkovic (21.0) | S. Batkovic (9.7) | J. Screen (4.3) | S. Batkovic (1.5) | S. Batkovic (2.6) |
| 2013–14 | L. Hodges (17.8) | L. Hodges (7.7) | A. Marino (3.4) | J. Foley (1.0) | C. Shegog (1.1) |
| 2014–15 | L. Hodges (16.5) | J. Screen (6.9) | J. Screen (3.7) | J. Foley (1.3) | K. Scheer (0.7) |
| 2015–16 | L. Mitchell (16.8) | M. Ruef (9.9) | L. Mitchell (4.5) | L. Mitchell (2.1) | K. Standish (0.8) |
| 2016–17 | L. Hodges (17.5) | L. Hodges (7.1) | S. Logic (5.4) | S. Logic (1.8) | C. Planeta (1.5) |
| 2017–18 | A. Bishop (15.7) | A. Bishop (9.2) | N. Seekamp (5.0) | N. Novosel (2.4) | R. Hamblin (1.0) |
| 2018–19 | N. Coffey (17.5) | K. Alexander (8.9) | N. Seekamp (6.0) | N. Seekamp (2.2) | N. Coffey (1.3) |

## Honour roll

| WNBL Championships: | 5 (1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2007/08) |
| WNBL Finals Appearances: | 19 (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2001/02, 2002/03, 2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2011/12, 2012/13) |
| WNBL Grand Final appearances: | 7 (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999/2000, 2007/08) |
| WNBL Most Valuable Players: | Rachael Sporn (1996, 1997), Suzy Batkovic (2012, 2013) |
| WNBL Grand Final MVPs: | Rachael Sporn (1994, 1995), Michelle Brogan (1996), Jo Hill (1998), Renae Camino (2008) |
| WNBL Coach of the Year: | Jan Stirling (1993), Peter Buckle (2012) |
| WNBL Rookie of the Year: | Kamala Lamshed (2002) |