WNBL Defensive Player of the Year Award

Last updated

The WNBL Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) award given since the 1990 WNBL season to the best defensive player throughout the regular season. Since 2000, the award has been known as the Robyn Maher Defensive Player of the Year (commonly known as the Maher Medal). [1] Emily McInerny has won the award nine times, while Tully Bevilaqua has won it on four occasions. [2]

Contents

Winners

Denotes player whose team won championship that year
Denotes player inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame
Denotes player who is still active
Player (X)Denotes the number of times the player had won at that time
Team (X)Denotes the number of times a player from this team had won at that time
SeasonPlayerPositionNationalityTeam
1990 Karen Dalton Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Sydney Bruins
1991 Kim Foley Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Hobart Islanders
1992 Robyn Maher Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Perth Breakers
1993 Karen Dalton (2)Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Sydney Flames (2)
1994 Robyn Maher (2)Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Sydney Flames (3)
1995 Tully Bevilaqua Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Perth Breakers (2)
1996 Tully Bevilaqua (2) Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Perth Breakers (3)
1997 Tully Bevilaqua (3) Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Perth Breakers (4)
1998 Emily McInerny Forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Melbourne Tigers
1998–99 Emily McInerny (2) Forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Melbourne Tigers (2)
1999–00 Tully Bevilaqua (4) Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Perth Breakers (5)
2000–01 Emily McInerny (3) Forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Dandenong Rangers
2001–02 Emily McInerny (4) Forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Dandenong Rangers (2)
2002–03 Natalie Porter Forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Townsville Fire
2003–04 Emily McInerny (5) Forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Dandenong Rangers (3)
2004–05 Emily McInerny (6) Forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Dandenong Rangers (4)
2005–06 Emily McInerny (7) Forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Dandenong Rangers (5)
2006–07 Emily McInerny (8) Forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Dandenong Rangers (6)
2007–08 Emily McInerny (9) Forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Dandenong Rangers (7)
2008–09 Alicia Poto Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Sydney Uni Flames (4)
2009–10 Rachael Flanagan Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Townsville Fire (2)
2010–11 Rachael Flanagan (2) Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Townsville Fire (3)
2011–12 Alicia Poto (2) Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Sydney Uni Flames (5)
2012–13 Kristi Harrower Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Bendigo Spirit
2013–14 Rebecca Allen Forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Melbourne Boomers
2014–15 Kelsey Griffin Forward Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Bendigo Spirit (2)
2015–16 Stephanie Cumming Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Dandenong Rangers (8)
2016–17 Marianna Tolo Center Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Canberra Capitals
2017–18 Kayla Pedersen Forward Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Dandenong Rangers (9)
2018–19 Lauren Nicholson Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Adelaide Lightning
2019–20 Mercedes Russell Center Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Southside Flyers (10)
2020 Stephanie Talbot Guard/forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Adelaide Lightning (2)
2021–22 Brittney Sykes Guard Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Canberra Capitals (2)
2022–23 Stephanie Talbot (2) Guard/forward Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Adelaide Lightning (3)
2023–24 Lauren Nicholson (2) Guard Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Sydney Flames (6)
2024–25 Lauren Cox Forward Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Townsville Fire (4)

Multi-time winners

RankPlayerTeam(s)AwardsYears
1 Emily McInerny Melbourne Tigers (2) / Dandenong Rangers (7)9 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
2 Tully Bevilaqua Perth Breakers 4 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004
3 Karen Dalton Sydney Flames 2 1990, 1993
Robyn Maher Perth Breakers (1) / Sydney Flames (1) 1992, 1994
Rachael McCully Townsville Fire 2010, 2011
Alicia Poto Sydney Uni Flames 2009, 2012
Stephanie Talbot Adelaide Lightning 2020, 2023
Lauren Nicholson Adelaide Lightning (1) / Sydney Flames (1) 2019, 2024

See also

References

  1. Women's National Basketball League. Defensive Player of the Year. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
  2. McInerny earns ninth WNBL Defensive Player of the Year award (March 5, 2008). BigV Basketball. Retrieved 2015-02-22.