2020 Townsville Fire season

The 2020 Townsville Fire season was the 20th season for the franchise in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL).

2020–21 Townsville Fire season
Head CoachShannon Seebohm
VenueTownsville Stadium
Results
Record9–4
Ladder2nd
FinalsGrand Final
(defeated by Southside, 82–99)
Leaders
PointsNicholson (18.9)
ReboundsPayne (6.3)
AssistsHeal (3.4)
< 2019–20 2021–22 >

James Cook University remain as the Fire's naming rights partner after signing a three-year extension in September 2019.[1] The Fire announced a different leadership team for this season, with Kate Gaze, Mia Murray, Lauren Nicholson & Nadeen Payne acting as a leadership group rather than a captaincy.[2]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a North Queensland hub is set to host the season.[3] The season was originally 2020–21 and would be traditionally played over several months across the summer, however this seasons scheduling has been condensed. The six-week season will see Townsville, Cairns and Mackay host a 56-game regular season fixture, plus a four game final series (2 x semi-finals, preliminary final and grand final).[4]

Roster

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2020 Townsville Fire roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht.
G 1   Nicholson, Lauren 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
G 3   Reid, Stephanie 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
G 4   Heal, Shyla 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
G/F 7   Woods, Courtney 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
G 10   Murray, Mia 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
G 11   Gaze, Kate 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
F 12   Payne, Nadeen 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
F 14   McSpadden, Lara 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
C 15   Aokuso, Zitina 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
G 23   Fabbro, Aliza 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
F/C 25   McKay, Megan 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Head coach

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Development player
  • (I) Import player
  •   Injured

Updated: 16 October 2020

Standings

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# WNBL Championship ladder
Team W L PCT GP
1 Southside Flyers 11 2 84.6 13
2 Townsville Fire 9 4 69.2 13
3 Canberra Capitals 9 4 69.2 13
4 Melbourne Boomers 9 4 69.2 13
5 Sydney Uni Flames 5 8 38.5 13
6 Adelaide Lightning 5 8 38.5 13
7 Perth Lynx 4 9 30.8 13
8 Bendigo Spirit 0 13 0.0 13

Results

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Regular season

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Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record
1 November
11
Perth 73–48 Nicholson (16) Payne (12) Reid (3) Mackay Multisports Stadium 1–0
2 November
15
Canberra 67–78 Nicholson (19) McSpadden (6) Heal (4) Mackay Multisports Stadium 1–1
3 November
17
Sydney 81–78 Nicholson (17) Aokuso, McKay (7) Heal (6) Townsville Stadium 2–1
4 November
19
Southside 89–101 Nicholson (21) Aokuso (8) Heal (4) Townsville Stadium 2–2
5 November
21
Bendigo 91–81 Heal (22) McKay (14) McKay (5) Townsville Stadium 3–2
6 November
22
Melbourne 87–75 Nicholson (24) Payne (6) Nicholson (6) Townsville Stadium 4–2
7 November
24
Bendigo 99–51 McKay, Payne (18) McKay, Payne (8) Reid (8) Townsville Stadium 5–2
8 November
28
Southside 70–94 Heal (17) Payne (6) Heal, Murray, Woods (3) Cairns Pop-Up Arena 5–3
9 November
29
Sydney 73–59 Aokuso (16) Aokuso (10) Heal (6) Cairns Pop-Up Arena 6–3
10 December
4
Perth 75–84 Nicholson (28) Payne (12) Gaze (5) Townsville Stadium 6–4
11 December
6
Canberra 84–71 Heal (27) Heal, Payne (8) Heal (3) Townsville Stadium 7–4
12 December
11
Adelaide 95–66 Nicholson (21) Heal, McKay, Payne (7) Payne (5) Cairns Pop-Up Arena 8–4
13 December
13
Melbourne 70–64 Nicholson (23) Aokuso, Payne (7) Gaze (5) Townsville Stadium 9–4

Finals

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Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record
SF December
16
Southside 93–106 Heal, Nicholson (30) Aokuso (6) Heal (7) Townsville Stadium 0–1
PF December
18
Melbourne 65–62 Heal (28) McKay, Nicholson (8) Payne (4) Townsville Stadium 1–1
GF December
20
Southside 82–99 Nicholson (20) Heal, McKay,
Nicholson (7)
Nicholson (4) Townsville Stadium 1–2

References

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  1. ^ "JCU EXTEND NAME RIGHTS OF TOWNSVILLE FIRE FOR A FURTHER 3 SEASONS". Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  2. ^ "FIRE UNVEIL LEADERSHIP GROUP". Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  3. ^ Elkerton, Matthew; Charles, Caitlan (22 September 2020). "Townsville launches bid to host bubble for upcoming WNBL season". TownsvilleBulletin.com.au. Retrieved 22 September 2020. A council report has detailed a proposal to host, and be central to, the 2020/21 WNBL season within a coronavirus 'bubble'. It's understood the WNBL has plans to host the games wholly within North Queensland, taking advantage of state government grants funding.
  4. ^ "QUEENSLAND SET TO HOST 2020 CHEMIST WAREHOUSE WNBL SEASON". wnbl.basketball. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
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