Holey Maley: Anneli chalks up 150-game milestone

The WNBL26 season has been an enjoyable one for Perth star Anneli Maley to date, largely due to her and the Lynx's impressive play through the first half of the season.

It's now set to be even more special for the 2024 Olympian, as she will chalk up her 150th WNBL game on Friday, when the Lynx host Adelaide at the Perth High Performance Centre.

“I feel blessed to be playing my 150 with this group of girls at this club," Maley said.

"My WNBL journey has had so many ups and downs but I’m so grateful for all the lessons learned.

"Let’s start the journey to the next 150."

Born in Melbourne, Maley grew up playing for the Eltham Wildcats.

This led to her representing Victoria Metropolitan and Australia at a junior level, before moving to Canberra at the age of 15 and joining the Centre of Excellence.

Following her schooling, Maley played the 2016 17 WNBL season with Adelaide before heading over to America and spending one season each at colleges Oregon (2017 -2018) and Texas Christian University (2018 -2019).

Upon her return to Australia, the now 27 year old signed with Southside ahead of the WNBL20 season.

This was followed by stints with Sydney (2020 COVID hub season) and Bendigo (2021 2023), with Maley claiming the competition's 2022 MVP award and being named to the All-WNBL First Team at the latter.

Between her two seasons in Bendigo, Maley spent time with the Chicago Sky in the WNBA.

Ahead of the WNBL24 season, Maley, who has career averages of 11.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, penned a deal with the Perth Lynx, who she has now spent three campaigns with.

Her time out west, Maley, who has established herself as one of the competition's top rebounders, has been named to the All-WNBL Second Team and helped the Lynx reach the WNBL25 Championship Series.

On the international stage, Maley won FIBA Oceania Junior Championships gold medals with the Australian under 17s (2013) and under 19s teams (2014), before helping her country claim bronze at the FIBA Under 19 World Championship in 2015.

At a senior level, Maley won bronze with the Opals at the 2022 FIBA World Cup and 2023 Asia Cup.

Since then, Maley has become one of the top 3x3 players in the world, steering the Gangurrus to FIBA Asia Cup gold medals (2024 and 2025) and bronze at the 2023 World Cup in Vienna.

She was also part of the inaugural women's 3x3 side at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, alongside Perth teammate Ally Wilson, as well as Lauren Mansfield and Marena Whittle.

Other career accomplishments include 2x All-NBL1 West First Team (2024 and 2025), NBL1 West scoring champion (2024), NBL1 Youth Player of the Year (2019) and Australian Schools Championship title with Box Hill Senior Secondary College in 2016.

Friday's match between the Lynx and Lightning, which tips off at 5.30pm AEDT, will get the exciting Round 12 underway.

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