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'Good at basketball': Anneli Maley lands with 21 and 14
Perth Lynx’s Georgia Amoore and Anneli Maley celebrate at the final whistle during their Round 2 WNBL clash against Adelaide Lightning at SA State Basketball Centre in Adelaide on October 24, 2026. Photo: Mark Brake/Getty Images.
Anneli Maley flew in from the WNBA for 21 and 14 as Perth stayed unbeaten and Adelaide fell to 0-3.
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New York Liberty role player Anneli Maley stepped off the plane and onto the floor for Perth, and she must have flown upfront because she was all business with her 72nd career double-double – 21 points and 14 rebounds – in the Lynx's 90-82 win against the Adelaide Lightning in Round 2 of WNBL27 in Adelaide on Saturday, October 24, 2026.
Maley, 28, missed Round 1 because the Liberty reached the 2026 WNBA semi-finals against Isobel Borlase’s Atlanta Dream.
WNBL26’s leading rebounder was one of six WNBA players to suit up: Georgia Amoore (Washington Mystics) and Teonni Key (Toronto Tempo); and for Adelaide, Steph Talbot (Las Vegas Aces), Shay Ciezki (Phoenix Mercury) and Maddy Westbeld (Phoenix Mercury).
“The effort was OK,” Perth head coach Ryan Petrik said.
“It’s funny – we’re 2-0 against two very, very good teams. I really do rate Adelaide. They’ve got three WNBA players and (Australian Opal) Zitina (Aokuso) in the five. I think they’re elite on paper.
“To be 2-0, considering the start we’ve had in terms of just a lack of starters on the floor, I don’t think we’re playing very well at all, especially on the offensive end. But we’re 2-0, so we’ll take it.
“The defence has been solid. The offence is a work in progress.”
Melbourne-born 1.85m Maley, who also has two WNBL triple-doubles in 163 career games, combined with American import Key to pulled down 23 of Perth’s 39 rebounds. Key added 22 points on 9-for-17 to go with three steals, two assists and a block in 33:45 minutes.
“She’s really good at basketball,” Petrik said of Maley.
“Really good. Maybe that last three she shot, I wasn’t probably the biggest fan, and I think I lost a few hairs on that one. But it went in.
“She just makes incredible basketball plays, and she plays really hard. She might understand 10 per cent of the offence right now and had 20.
“You just understand she’s always going to rebound at a crazy rate. She had 14 tonight, and that’s with TK playing alongside her and Haley playing alongside her, who gobbled a lot of those up as well. She still had 14.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met a player who works harder on the court every second she’s out there.
“Clearly, she’ll get better and better as time goes on because she’ll understand the offence and defences better and better. But you just know she’s always going to bring elite effort.
“That’s really underrated because it’s not as common as you think.”
Adelaide are winless at 0-3, ended the third quarter up one (60-59) but couldn’t close it out at home.
“There’s a level of frustration because there’s a desire to win,” Lightning head coach Aja Parham-Ammar said.
“We’ve had a fun opening week of three games with some of the top teams in the league, so we’ve got to understand that.
“We are continuing to improve, but I think we have high expectations for the players individually and what we’re doing. We expect to come out with wins right now, and we’re not.
“The frustration’s there, but that’s how you’re supposed to feel.
“You go back to the drawing board, you go back to work, and we’ll finish strong.”
Adelaide won the third period 26-18, and Petrik revealed he was far from happy at the break.
“A kick in the butt, mainly,” Petrik said of the team talk heading into the fourth.
We’d asked them at half-time to run a certain set.
“Ran it once for a lay-up, went hero mode four or five possessions in a row for five straight turnovers or misses, ran it again for another lay-up.
“I just feel every time we actually ran an action that we understand, we got something good out of it.
“Every time we went freelance, it was clunky.
“That’s partly my fault as well. The offence does give them a lot of freedom, and when we’re rolling, just go. But when it’s not, maybe more of the appetisers and more of the triggers instead. So probably my fault.”
What you need to know
- The Perth Lynx beat the Adelaide Lightning 90-82 at the SA State Basketball Centre in Round 2 of WNBL27.
- Perth led 26-17 after the first quarter and 41-34 at half-time. Adelaide won the third 26-18 to lead 60-59 at the last change, then Perth won the fourth 31-22.
- Teonni Key top-scored with 22 points and nine rebounds on 9-from-17, and Zitina Aokuso led Adelaide with 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists on 9-from-13.
- Adelaide turned it over 22 times to Perth's 13, and Shay Ciezki had nine of them.
- Perth made 22 of 31 free throws to Adelaide's 12 of 15, including 11 of 15 in the fourth quarter, a 10-point gap at the line in an eight-point game.
Milestones and moments
- Zitina Aokuso: 708 career rebounds (42 off 750)
- Stephanie Talbot: 2,732 points (268 off 3,000)
- Alex Ciabattoni: 1,188 points (312 off 1,500).
Adelaide Lightning
- Zitina Aokuso top-scored with 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals on 9-from-13.
- Stephanie Talbot added 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, going 8-from-10 at the line, but turned it over seven times.
- Tayla Brazel scored 15 on 5-from-9, including 3-from-7 from three, before fouling out.
- Madeline Westbeld had 14 points and 12 rebounds on 6-from-14.
- Shay Ciezki had eight points and four assists on 3-from-10, with nine turnovers in 36 minutes.
- Elissa Brett added four points on 2-from-4 off the bench.
- Jessica McDowell-White had two points and two assists in 13 minutes off the bench.
- Adelaide shot 31-from-61 from the field, 8-from-28 from three and 12-from-15 at the line, with 41 rebounds, 25 assists and 22 turnovers.
Perth Lynx
- Teonni Key top-scored with 22 points, nine rebounds and three steals on 9-from-17.
- Anneli Maley had 21 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, going 10-from-11 at the line.
- Haley Peters added 17 points and five assists on 6-from-9.
- Georgia Amoore had 12 points, a game-high nine assists and three steals.
- Stephanie Gorman scored nine off the bench, all from 3-from-5 from three.
- Alex Ciabattoni had six points, three rebounds and two steals.
- Samantha Ashby added three points in 12 minutes off the bench.
- Perth shot 30-from-71 from the field, 8-from-24 from three and 22-from-31 at the line, with 39 rebounds, 23 assists and 13 turnovers.
