Photo Credit – Adelaide Uni
6-Minute Read
Women
The Waatu Women played in their first final in the short history of the UBL and gave another strong account of themselves – however a returning Caitlyn Martin inspired the home side USYD to a solid 79-71 win to secure their place in the semi-finals at the USYD Sports and Aquatics Centre.
After defeat in Adelaide – both teams made a strong start particularly Madi Dalmeida whose size and strength would not reduce throughout the afternoon. Caitlin Shillabeer (Physiotherapy) however kept the scoreboard moving back in the away sides favour with multiple triples and ten first term points. Enter Martin however with the next seven points with her strength guiding USYD to the lead before the Waatu snatched it back through captain Jemima Whitton for a 17-19 edge.
Yvette Volk for USYD began the second better than anyone with multiple makes – but the scores remained tied throughout the second quarter. It took a little planning from Annika Uzcategui-Montenegro (Project Management) from beyond the arc and inside to give the Waatu the lead back with Madi Hughes (Occupational Therapy) putting in place the Waatu up by seven 32-39. Alex Kayrouz however slashed the margin back to a single basket at the half 36-39.
The Waatu made the most of their momentum prior to the half extending out to seven points again and that’s when the Martin flicked the switch. She proceeded to score 12 points to haul the lead back from the Waatu as USYD produced a 25-16 term – the Waatu however were only down 61-55 with one to play.
A quick fire opening to the fourth dented the Waatu’s chances with USYD through Kayrouz and Lauryn Walker 8-0 before Whitton (Viticulture & Oenology) picked the steal for a layup then a triple off the next play thanks to a Hughes block and assist to break the run. USYD with their experience however steadied again to get out to a game high 16 points 78-62 with Waatu needing answers with 4:27 to go. The fightback ensured with a 0-9 run led by Shillabeer and AUM was bold a valiant but ultimately time ran short with USYD progressing to the semi-final, but the seventh placed finish still ended up being the best in the Women’s history for the Waatu.
Whitton capped off a consistent season with a near triple double of 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds which Uzcategui-Montenegro producing arguably her best game of the season with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Martin however with 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists proved the difference along with Alex Kayrouz finishing with 14 points, five rebounds and four steals.
Women – USYD 79 (Martin 31, Kayrouz 14, Dalmeida 11) defeated AU Waatu 71 (Whitton 17, Uzcategui-Montenegro 16, Shillabeer 13)
Season Summary 2025
6th – 5-4 (7th after Finals series due to Melbourne Uni upset of LTU)
You can’t compare the previous seasons for the Womens to this one – it was easily the most successful led by a strong recruitment drive of highly talented players from NBL1 Central sides.
Team Highlights
- Opening match against UON
- Pushing LTU in match away from home
- Away win against UWA
- Upset win against USYD at Home
Individual Highlights
- Caitlin Shillabeer 25 points versus LTU
- Meaza Otto 24 points versus FED
- Jemima Whitton near triple double versus UWA
- Jemma Tredrea debut versus UWA
- Alice Sabine double double versus UNSW
Surprise Packet
It was a surprise debut but a pleasant one from Jemma Tredrea becoming an important player to the foil of Shillabeer, Whitton and Woosnam – 16 points against UWA showed the talent the Forestville Eagles NBL1 Central backup. She continued to play a consistent brand across the remainder of the season to finish with 12.25 points and 9.25 rebounds in four games.
Most Improved
Taking large steps forward this season was the captain of the team in Jemima Whitton. She took on the most important defensive jobs but also produced ultra consistent numbers. The Norwood Flames NBL1 Central with 11.22 points, 6.11 rebounds and 4.56 assists along with 2.8 steals certainly should see more minutes in her side this season you would hope.
Player of the Season
The evenness of this side makes choosing an MVP tough however it has to go to newcomer Caitlin Shillabeer who historically has a strong record in big games. She finished the NBL1 Central season with the Norwood Flames with a bang and that showed in her first outing against UON with 14 points and had pivotal roles in wins over VU and USYD (17 points). She finished her first season with 15.86 points and 6.86 rebounds as we certainly hope of more from her in 2026.
You can catch all the games from the season past on the UBL website and stay tuned to the crossoverdribble for more match reports and features in season 2026.
We want to continue our work telling the stories of SA Basketball this summer and beyond with world championships, local legends, NBL and WNBL previews, reviews and NBL1 off season news and predictions – Can you PLEASE HELP US with a shotclock sub of $14 or $24 a year to help us do this?
NEW – PITCH TO THE PUBLIC 
It takes 4 hours a week to write, research and produce our content but we want to write extra content this next few months so we thought we’d pitch to the public
Here are the next lot of articles up for pitching – subscribe to get these written
“All about Ability – the last five year’s of the Men’s Ivor Burge Program”
“The all-time Adelaide Lightning All-Stars Team – Naming the team of the past 30 years of Adelaide Lightning players”
Eight new $24 Shotclock subscribers will have the remaining of piece produced on the topic of
Another eight new $24 Shotclock subscribers or contributors directly will have both pieces done for production
Please DM if you’d like to support another way than subscription
See if you can provide the assist we need to tell the South Australian Basketball story
All Episodes of the SA Shotclock available on podcasting platforms in the coming months
CROSS OVER DRIBBLE 