It's another first this Saturday afternoon for the Tasmania Jewels when they take WNBL basketball to Launceston and attempt to hand the Sydney Flames a first loss of the season in the process.
It's been nothing but firsts to start life in the WNBL already and that will now continue this Saturday afternoon when the Jewels play host to the Flames at the Silverdome in Launceston with the game to tip-off at 3pm.
Having started the season at home in Hobart at MyState Bank Arena with a sold out crowd for the 103-90 victory against the Geelong Venom, the Jewels played their first away game last Thursday night.
They ended up tasting their first WNBL defeat as well with the Southside Melbourne Flyers winning 91-77.
Now the firsts continue on Saturday in Launceston with the Jewels looking to make it two from two in Tasmania in their first WNBL season but the Flames will arrive full of confidence.
Sydney have started the new season winning their opening four matches by an average of 14 points so they will be coming to Launceston and putting that undefeated record on the line.
The Flames have had a host of standout performers to start the season so far and none more so than former Launceston Tornadoes MVP Lauren Nicholson who is producing 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists across the four games as a new mother.
Then there's two-time NBL1 MVP Jaz Shelley delivering 17.5 points, 5.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals, with Issie Bourne contributing 14.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
That trio plus the rest of the Sydney line-up will give the Jewels plenty to worry about, but they aren’t short on firepower themselves even with Keely Froling out injured and Madina Okot with Game 7 of the WNBA Finals to play first with the Atlanta Dream.
Jewels assistant coach Zoe Mesman is no stranger to Launceston either as the coach of the Northern Force in the NBL1 South during the off-season.
She is also fresh off being named Senior Coach of the Year for 2026 at the recent Basketball Tasmania Awards but is just worried about the threats that the Flames pose this Saturday led by Nicholson.
"Launceston is just such a unique space and I think the community of basketball-driven fans is just second to none there," Mesman said.
"Even in leagues below the WNBL, everyone comes out in force to watch women's basketball and I really hope that Launceston embrace these games.
"I think what is making them so good is just how collaborative they are. I think for us, when you look at Sydney, everyone can be damaging.
"They've got a local past local star Lauren Nicholson who is just actually carrying the team on her back at the moment late into games and I know that she'll have her own fans at that stadium. So as long as our fans are louder than the Nicho fans, it will be a good thing."
Mia Jacobs is another Jewels player getting her first taste of the WNBL this season with the Jewels on the back of growing up in Perth, getting her start at the Lakeside Lightning and then having a strong college career with La Salle, Fresno State and finally the University of Oregon.
She returned home earlier this year to play an NBL1 West season with the Mandurah Magic where she delivered 15.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.4 steals ahead of joining the Jewels.
Jacobs has played 19 minutes for 5.0 points and 6.5 rebounds across her first two WNBL appearances and she can't wait for the first chance to play in Launceston on Saturday and try to bounce back from last Thursday's loss.
"I haven't been up there yet, so I'm very excited to get a new crowd of people in and play in a new environment, it's gonna be great," Jacobs said.
"Yeah, we've had a few days of training and then a day off yesterday so it's a good little reset but I think just moving forward, obviously learning from that game.
"But obviously it's a new team, so it's great to verse someone else. We've played Sydney two times now, so it's great to be able to play them again and learn from that and be able to play them again on Saturday."
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