Anneli Maley had just three days between returning from a short stint playing in China and heading off to New York for the Liberty’s training camp.
The Australian guard had a chance between obligations to play in a game for the Perth Redbacks of the NBL1. She almost decided to stay home to rest.
“I wasn’t gonna play,” Maley said Tuesday. “But then I was like, ‘Oh come on. It could be fun.’ And then it was fun.”
Fun indeed. Maley set a single-game scoring record, pouring in a whopping 65 points on 72.4 percent shooting. She drained four of seven 3-point attempts, grabbed 17 rebounds and handed out five assists.
Maley was dominant, her performance clinical. It was a very different, more confident version of Maley from even three to four years ago when her scoring didn’t match her rebounding and defending prowess.
At any rate, it was quite the tone to set heading into Liberty training camp this week, where she’s fighting for another WNBA opportunity.
Though it does feel like the Liberty’s 12-player roster is all but set, Maley could be in contention for New York’s final developmental spot.
Maley is signed to a training camp contract — jargon for a one-year, minimum contract (unguaranteed).
The Liberty would have to waive her, and she’d have to clear waivers, though, before they could turn around and sign her to a developmental contract, which was introduced in the new collective bargaining agreement.
Each WNBA team has two developmental spots. French point guard Marine Fauthoux already took the Liberty’s first one.
Maley has been invited to WNBA training camps in the past, including the Chicago Sky in 2023. She’s grateful for the chance to be back in the mix.
This time around, Maley said she’s planning to be herself.
“I play really hard, so scoring is not my first priority,” she said. “I’m a really, really good rebounder. I’m a hustle player. I leave everything out there, like, I just want to play harder than everyone else and I just want that to be seen and hopefully a bit of my personality shines through all that.”
An added bonus to this specific opportunity is she gets to share the court with her former Oregon teammates Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally.
“They’re great, great people,” said Maley, who played the 2017-18 season at Oregon. “I was really bad in college. … I kind of sucked. So I just rode the bench and watched them do their thing. But great human beings and it’s cool. It is a weird thing that … nine years later, to be able to be on the court with them when from afar, I’ve watched their careers just be amazing. … And yeah, again, I sucked in college, so it’s really still random that I’m playing in the league.”
