Kylie Duggan and Molly Althouse headline players to watch in the Darwin women’s Championship Season
NBL1 stars and talented local juniors on the rise will headline the Darwin premier women’s basketball competition. Check out who made our top 10 list.
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Darwin basketball is back at Marrara and the Women’s Championship Seaon looks to be full of talent from NBL1 stars, interstate talent to exciting, up and coming juniors.
We’ve picked out some of the female players set to hit the court in 2022-23.
Kylie Duggan (Tracy Village Jets)
You would be hard pressed to find a more prominent name in Top End women’s basketball than Kylie Duggan.
She was a key contributor in the clubs legendary run of 13 consecutive DBA titles, and is still among the best, winning the 2020 MVP and being named in the NBL1 North Salties squad for 2022.
The selfless captain can fill any role, whether it’s as the primary scorer or taking the rebounds.
Currently averages 13 points per game from the opening two weeks of the Championship Season, which includes a 19-point effort against Ellas Titans in Round 2.
Claire Maree O’Bryan-Hunt (Lightning)
The Lightning captain guided her team’s golden era in which they won three titles against arch rivals Tracy Village.
The guard was also one of the first Territorians to get the chance to show her skills interstate playing for Rip City in the then Queensland Basketball League in 2016.
Prior to that she played NCAA Division 1 basketball for Bucknell Bisons in the Patriot League, and later returned to Darwin where she helped Lightning pick up titles.
Lightning has enjoyed an impressive start to the 2022-23 season with O’Bryan-Hunt scoring 36-points in the opener against Ellas Titans.
Erin Bollmann (Ellas Titans)
The US import was the Darwin Salties’ leading player in 2022 until an injured wrist in August sidelined the remainder of her NBL1 North season.
A key playmaker at Marrara in 2022, Bollmann had led the team for average points, rebounds, assists and blocks.
Coaching the men’s team, Bollmann is yet to play for the lady Titans in season 2022-23, but will be a massive in when she does hit the floor.
Taneesa Hampton (Uni Rebels)
The Rebels junior has dominated the early rounds of the 2022-23 season, scoring points and taking the rebounds like a seasoned veteran.
She managed a point per minute in her opening game against Ansett, scoring 30 to help her side cruise to victory.
Again in Round 2 she soared with 24 points. allowing her to top the average points scored with 27 per game.
Point scoring isn’t her only asset though, also producing 15 rebounds, six assists, three steals and nine turnovers in that blockbuster Round 2 showing.
Jamie-Lee Peris (Tracy Village Jets)
Peris was arguably one of the biggest signings in the Darwin Basketball League when she made her return in 2021.
Having won a title with Uni Rebels in 2011, Peris moved to South Australia where she continued to find success at high levels of the game.
A championship with the South Adelaide Rockets in 2014 followed and seven years later she return to bolster Jets, the best side in the league.
She’s already achieved some success at the club and with an average of 17 points per game so far in the 2022-23 season, she is well on the hunt for more.
Kirra Hill-Carter (Lightning)
The 27-year-old guard didn’t see much court time with the Darwin Salties in 2022, appearing in just two games.
However, she did pull down four boards in less than four minutes of play against the Rockhampton Cyclones in July.
Was a solid contributor for Lightning in Round 1, with 11 points and seven boards against Ellas Titans.
Molly Althouse (Eagles)
Althouse, also a talented footballer who won the Colleen Gwynne Medal for the best in the Women’s Premier League in the 2021-22 season, will be a key Eagle this season.
She showed her class in Round 2, with a six-point game against Uni Rebels, plus nine rebounds and six steals.
Althouse has also been a fine Territory representative at hoops, named MVP of the 2019 Australian Indigenous Basketball Tournament, dominating in the Under 17 division, and performed at the Pacific School Games in 2015.
Tikesa Docherty-Cole (Tracy Village Jets)
The Salties forward racked up 14 appearances in the franchise’s debut NBL1 North season, without a breakout game in 2022.
However, she did pull down four boards and had two assists against Logan Thunder in May.
The 29-year-old started the 2022-23 Women’s Championship Season strongly, with the Tracy Village forward scoring eight points while pulling down six boards and six steals in a Round 2 smashing of Ellas Titans by 46 points.
Amy List (Ellas Titans)
The form player at Ellas, she has been dominant in the paint and at winning the ball back for her side.
Though the Titans have yet to post a win, List has stood tall and currently tops the season for turnovers with 18.
She has also topped her side’s scoring both rounds.
List most recently represented the NT in the 2021 under-18s women’s competition with her height offering the side plenty of options.
Zara Pearson (Ansett)
The country Victorian recruit has had an amazing start to the Women’s Championship Season, with a 19-point, 22-rebound game in Round 1 against Uni Rebels.
She backed it up with 13 points and 14 rebounds the following weekend against Lightning.
Pearson has a strong basketball pedigree, named in the All Star 5 in the Country Basketball League North West in the 2019-20 season.
The Echuca College product also spent time with the Newberry Wolves in US college basketball.
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