Froling's resilient journey to 100 WNBL games

There was plenty to celebrate for the Townsville Fire on Saturday night.

Not only did last year's grand finalists smash the UC Capitals on their home floor, but it also saw Townsville junior Alicia Froling chalk up her 100th WNBL game, a feat made all the more impressive when you consider the injuries the 29-year-old has had to deal with during her career.

"It's a cool milestone [to achieve]," Froling said.

"It's particularly special as I started my career as a DP (development player) at Townsville and now it's come full circle."

Born in Townsville, Froling grew up playing alongside twin sister Keely (who now plays for the Sydney Flames) for the Flames.

After representing Queensland North on numerous occasions as a junior, the forward was selected to play for Australia at the 2011 Under 16 FIBA Oceania Championships, where she helped her side win gold.

Following this, Froling helped Australia finish fifth at the Under 17s World Championships in Amsterdam and steered the Gems (Australian Under 19s side) to two bronze medals at the junior world champs in Lithuania and Russia.

During this time, Froling also attended the Centre of Excellence in Canberra and signed a development player contract with her hometown Townsville Fire, who she played for from 2011-14.

Froling then spent four seasons at Dallas' Southern Methodist University, where she played 84 games between 2014-19.

After her time in the US, Froling penned a deal with Bendigo, but numerous wrist injuries and subsequent surgeries marred her tenure with the Spirit.

The injuries during that time to her right wrist were so bad, she couldn't bend it back, and Froling actually changed shooting hands to use her left.

"There definitely was that point with my injuries that I had to make a decision if I wanted to keep playing, because I knew that I couldn't keep playing the way that I was," Froling said.

"So it was very realistic for me to have stopped then, but I'm stubborn and I wanted to play, as I really love playing basketball.

"I knew that it (stepping away from the game) wasn't something that I wanted to do, as I still had more to give to basketball.

"It was tough but I'm glad it all happened, as it's helped shape who I am today, along with my competitiveness and work ethic."

With those wrist injuries in the rear vision mirror, Froling is enjoying her second season back with the Fire, averaging 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game in WNBL26.

Froling's Fire now travel to the State Basketball Centre on Friday night to play the Southside Melbourne Flyers, tipping off at 7pm AEDT.

"[Our group] trusts each other and we've just built on that each week [since the start of pre-season]," she said.

"Shannon [Seebohm] and his staff work extremely hard to put us in the best position to succeed, from scouting to where they want us on the court.

"We work on this every day at training, and with these being so hard, we're perfectly prepared for each game and are ready to compete."

Tickets to the Indigenous Round fixture, which will be broadcast on ESPN2 and 9Now, are still available here.

Townsville will celebrate Froling's milestone during their first home game of the season on November 15.