Natalie Burton (born 23 March 1989) is an Australian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and coach. She is currently the assistant coach for the Perth Lynx of the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional women's basketball league in Australia. It is currently composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Baske ...

(WNBL). She represented the Australian national team and was a regular with the

Perry Lakes Hawks Perry Lakes Hawks is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Perry Lakes Basketball Association (PLBA), the major administrative basketball org ...

of the

NBL1 West NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

until 2021.

Junior career

Burton made her debut for the

in the

State Basketball League NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

(SBL) in 2006, going on to win the Most Improved Player award in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Between 2008 and 2012, she played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

in the United States for the West Virginia Mountaineers. She averaged 2.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 119 games, with her 52.8 career field goal percentage ranking her as the second best in West Virginia history. She graduated in May 2012 with a degree in finance.

West Virginia statistics

Source

Professional career

Following her graduation from West Virginia University, Burton returned to her hometown of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and signed with the

West Coast Waves The Perth Lynx are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Bendat Basketball Centre. For sponsorship reasons, ...

for the

2012–13 WNBL season The 2012–13 WNBL season was the 33rd season of competition since the Women's National Basketball League's establishment in 1981. A total of nine teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 5 October 2012 and 16 February 20 ...

. After averaging 8.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in 24 games over her rookie season, she recommitted to the Waves for the 2013–14 season. In her second season, she averaged 6.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in 17 games. During this time, she played for the Perry Lakes Hawks in 2012 and 2013. After playing for the BA Centre of Excellence during the 2014

SEABL The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was an Australian semi-professional basketball league. The league comprised both a men's and women's competition and was run by the country's governing body, Basketball Australia. The league wa ...

season, Burton joined the

Melbourne Boomers The Melbourne Boomers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Boomers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play the majority of their home games at Melbourne Sports Centre – Pa ...

for the

2014–15 WNBL season The 2014–15 WNBL season was the 35th season of competition since its establishment in 1981. A total of 8 teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 17 October 2014 and 15 February 2015, followed by a post-season involving ...

. In 22 games for the Boomers, she averaged 7.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. On 17 April 2015, Burton signed with the Perth Lynx, a day after the rebranding of her former team the West Coast Waves. She helped the Lynx reach the WNBL Grand Final in 2016, where they lost 2–0 to the

Townsville Fire The Townsville Fire are an Australian professional female basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). They are the only female professional sporting team of any discipline in the northern half of Australia. The t ...

. She appeared in all 27 games for the Lynx in 2015–16, averaging 6.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. On 27 May 2016, Burton re-signed with the Perth Lynx for the

2016–17 WNBL season The 2016–17 WNBL season is the 37th season of competition since its establishment in 1981. The regular season begins on October 7, 2016 when the Sydney Uni Flames host the Perth Lynx and is scheduled to conclude on February 19, 2017. Townsville ...

. On 25 November 2016, she played her 100th WNBL game. In 2017, Burton played for the Perry Lakes Hawks and helped them win the SBL championship. On 31 August 2017, Burton re-signed with the Perth Lynx for the

2017–18 WNBL season The 2017–18 WNBL season was the 38th season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The regular season began on 5 October 2017, with the Melbourne Boomers visiting the Dandenong Rangers. The Sydney Uni Flames were the defending champ ...

. On 17 November 2017, Burton played her 100th game with the franchise, becoming the eleventh player in team history to do so. After once again playing for the Hawks in 2018, Burton moved to Germany for the 2018–19 season to play for Herner TC. There she won the DBBL championship. After playing an eighth season with the Hawks in 2019, she returned to Europe for the 2019–20 season, this time playing for French team Union Saint-Amand Porte du Hainaut. After playing with the Hawks during the 2020 West Coast Classic, she played for the Sydney Uni Flames during the 2020 WNBL Hub season in Queensland. She had her tenth stint with the Hawks during the

2021 NBL1 West season The 2021 NBL1 West season was the inaugural season of the NBL1 West. After 32 years known as the State Basketball League (SBL), the league was rebranded under the NBL1 banner for 2021. The regular season began on Friday 16 April and ended on Satu ...

. In December 2021, Burton signed with the

Warwick Senators Warwick Senators is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Stirling Basketball Association (SBA), the major administrative basketball organisa ...

for the

2022 NBL1 West season The 2022 NBL1 West season is the second season of the NBL1 West and 33rd overall in State Basketball League (SBL) / NBL1 West history. The regular season began on Friday 8 April and will end on Saturday 13 August. The finals will begin on Friday ...

, ending her long-time association with the Perry Lakes Hawks. She returned to the Senators for the

2023 NBL1 West season The 2023 NBL1 West season was the third season of the NBL1 West and 34th overall in State Basketball League (SBL) / NBL1 West history. The regular season began on Friday 31 March and ended on Saturday 22 July. The finals began on Friday 28 July a ...

. In June 2023, she played her 200th SBL/NBL1 game. She is set to return to the Senators for the

2024 NBL1 West season 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

National team career

Burton represented Australia at the

2013 World University Games The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

in Russia, where they lost to Team USA in the semifinals. Burton scored four points in the semifinal. Australia went on to win the bronze medal game. Later in 2013, Burton helped the

Australian Opals The Australian women's national basketball team is nicknamed the Opals, after the brightly coloured Opal, gemstone common to the country. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive and successful having won nine medals at ...

win the gold medal at the FIBA Oceania Championship. In 2014, she won another bronze medal with the Opals, this time at the FIBA World Championship. She won another gold medal with the Opals at the

2015 FIBA Oceania Championship The 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship for Men was the 22nd edition of the tournament. The tournament featured a two-game series between Australia and New Zealand. It also served as the qualifying tournament of FIBA Oceania for basketball at the ...

Coaching career

In September 2021, Burton was appointed assistant coach of the Perth Lynx for the

2021–22 WNBL season The 2021–22 WNBL season is the 42nd season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Southside Flyers were the defending champions, however they failed to qualify for finals. The Melbourne Boomers won their second championship, de ...

. She continued as assistant in

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

and 2023–24.

Personal

Burton's younger sister, Emily, is also a basketball player and was a member of the 2017 Hawks championship team.

References

External links

FIBA.com profileBasketball Australia profileWNBL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Natalie 1989 births Living people Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Perth, Western Australia Centers (basketball) Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Melbourne Boomers players Olympic basketball players for Australia Perth Lynx players Power forwards Universiade bronze medalists for Australia Universiade medalists in basketball West Virginia Mountaineers women's basketball players Sportswomen from Western Australia