BASKETBALL
WNBA
BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
DONE and dusted for year three.
Traralgon’s Jade Melbourne has completed her WNBA duties after Washington Mystics missed the playoffs.
With an increase in opportunity, Melbourne showed great improvement from start to finish.
The Traralgon star mounted 12 starts throughout the course of the season after previously never starting a WNBA match in each of her first two years in the system with the Mystics and Seattle Storm.
That included a stretch during August where she was the primary guard for eight consecutive games, winning three of those.
Over that span of time, Melbourne increased her output for averages of 7.4 points, three assists and two rebounds per game.
In total, Melbourne posted averages of 5.9 points, 2.9 assists, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.6 steals per game in 23.5 minutes.
Ever reliable for coach Sydney Johnson, Melbourne missed just one game in season 2025.
From a team perspective, in completion of their final regular season match, a nine-point loss to New York Liberty, the Mystics ultimately finished with a win-loss record of 16-28, which was seven wins back of a playoff berth.
While Washington had brilliant patches, especially towards the middle of the season, they couldn’t capture enough momentum against the top sides, and ended their year on a 10-game losing streak, finishing as the fourth worst team in the league.
She has one more year remaining on her rookie extension, which she signed during her first season with Seattle before being traded to the Mystics, and will enter restricted free agency in 2027.
Melbourne will now return to her WNBL team, University of Canberra Capitals, who open the 2025-26 season on October 18 against Southside Flyers.
