The Adelaide Lightning is an Australian professional women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team competing in the Women's National Basketball League ( WNBL). The club is based in the city of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. The club was formed in 1993 and they play in the 8,000-seat

Titanium Security Arena Adelaide Arena (known commercially as Adelaide 36ers Arena) is a multipurpose indoor sports stadium located in Findon, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the former home arena for the Adelaide 36ers of the NBL and th ...

History

The Adelaide Lightning were formed in 1993 and started playing out of the

Clipsal Powerhouse Adelaide Arena (known commercially as Adelaide 36ers Arena) is a multipurpose indoor sports stadium located in Findon, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the former home arena for the Adelaide 36ers of the NBL and th ...

. 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 Rachael Pamela Sporn (born 26 May 1968, in Murrayville) is an Australian former basketball player and three time Olympian. Sporn was Development Executive for the Australian Melanoma Research Foundation but has since left the organisation. C ...

. 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 Jennifer Hazel (Jenny) Whittle (born 5 September 1973) is a retired Australian women's basketball player. Whittle was a regular member of the national team for over a decade, from 1994 until 2006. Playing Centre, Whittle was a key contributor to ...

, Carla Boyd,

Jo Hill Joanne Kay Hill (born 19 June 1973) is a former Australian women's basketball player. Biography Hill played for the Australia women's national basketball team during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in ...

Kristi Harrower Kristi Harrower (born 4 March 1975) is an Australian professional basketball player, who three times (2000, 2004 and 2008) won the silver medal with the Australian Women's Team at the Summer Olympics, and also the bronze in 2012. She played in ...

Erin Phillips Erin Victoria Phillips (born 19 May 1985) is an Australian rules footballer for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, a radio host, and a former professional basketball player. She played nine seasons in the Wo ...

Jae Kingi-Cross Jae Kingi-Cross (born 20 January 1976) is a former Australian women's basketball player.FIBA ArchivePlayer Search: Jae Monique Kingi Retrieved 2012-09-10. Biography Kingi-Cross was a member of the national team roster for 12 years, from 199 ...

, 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 The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

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 AIS Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Canberra, Australia. Its capacity is 5,200 and it was built in 1980. The arena was opened by the Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Fraser, on 26 January 1981 and was originally named the National Indoor ...

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.

Season-by-season records

Source
Adelaide Lightning

Statistics

Players

Current roster

Honour roll

References

External links

Official team website
{{Adelaide Sports Teams Basketball clubs in Adelaide Women's National Basketball League teams Basketball teams established in 1993 1993 establishments in Australia Sporting clubs in Adelaide