basketball.com.au<\/a>. <\/p>\n\u201cI had done really well during that preseason, I felt like I was really coming in strong, but it’s just one of those things at practice, the ball hit my hand the wrong way, and I tore a ligament in my thumb, so had to get surgery to reattach it to the bone.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/697ff375fe9ccce400cfced5_GettyImages-2205322807.jpg\")
Erin Condron #11 of the UC San Diego Tritons guards Aniya Gourdine #1 of the Southern Lady Jaguars in the first half during the First Four round of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament held at UCLA Pauley Pavilion on March 19, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Jay L. Clendenin\/NCAA Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole way through I just had this mindset that I was going to improve so much in the 12 weeks that I couldn’t play. I improved my speed and agility, my fitness – I’d never been so fit before in my life. By the time I came back, having already played with my teammates in preseason before I got injured, I was able to seamlessly fit in.\u201d <\/p>\n
Clearly not content with her strong sophomore season, Condron continued her tireless work this past offseason and today, she is now one of the leaders of UC San Diego, averaging career-highs across the board with 15.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals in 32 minutes per game. <\/p>\n
She admits the transition to becoming the focal point of the Tritons\u2019 offence has been an adjustment, but as she did throughout her junior career in Victoria and now in her college career, she always finds a way to succeed and rise to the occasion. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been an adjustment for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up, I was always a pass-first player, so I’ve had to really learn to be consistent with that scoring mentality and throughout this season I’ve just been getting better and better each game knowing that even if I miss a couple of shots, I need to keep shooting because that’s what my team needs. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe support I get from the coaches and my teammates, they give me so much freedom in my game, so I’m able to put the ball on the floor and take it up the court, start those fast breaks and drive it.\u201d <\/p>\n
As the Tritons leading scorer, Condron brings so much to her team on the offensive end, but she\u2019s just as vital on the defensive end too. Her ability to block shots, grab key rebounds and just play hard-nosed on that end of the floor is impressive to watch. <\/p>\n
\u201cDefence has always been my favourite part of basketball, it’s always been something that I do pride myself on,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cDefence leads into offence, that’s our team philosophy and we\u2019re very intense on defence, we’ve got a big emphasis on getting steals and putting pressure on the other team.\u201d <\/p>\n
Before jetting off to the other side of the world to pursue her basketball dreams, Condron did the ultimate apprenticeship as a development player with the Bendigo Spirit in WNBL season 2022-23.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/697ff3bb014cce849f6971bc_GettyImages-1454920220.jpg\")
Erin Condron of the Spirit warms up before the round nine WNBL match between Bendigo Spirit and Melbourne Boomers at Red Energy Arena, on January 08, 2023, in Bendigo, Australia. Photo: Daniel Pockett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
In a team filled with talent, the likes of Kelly Wilson, Kelsey Griffin, Tessa Lavey, Anneli Maley and Alex Wilson, Condron learned what it meant to be a professional and has taken those lessons into her college career. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt made a world of difference,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI learned so much, just being surrounded by incredible players and incredible coaches. <\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing the professionalism, it’s not even just the work ethic, it’s everything else outside of that; it’s how you come across, how you treat your teammates, it’s your whole being, and that’s professionalism. <\/p>\n
\u201cGetting to see behind the scenes was incredible for me and I was basically in shock the whole time I was practicing with them, but I just had to soak everything up and learn as much as I could.\u201d <\/p>\n
One day, Condron hopes to return to the WNBL. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe WNBL is definitely the goal for me,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy mindset is that I really do just want to keep improving and be the best player that I can be, and if it leads me to that, then I’m going to be happy.\u201d <\/p>\n
It\u2019s clear that Condron is driven to learn and improve, and that\u2019s not just on the basketball court. A human biology major, her decision to commit to UC San Diego wasn\u2019t purely about basketball, the education side of the scholarship was also vital. <\/p>\n
\u201cI had a few other scholarship offers, but education is very important to me, and UC San Diego is literally one of the best public schools that you could go to,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s also a science research school, so that definitely drew me here in terms of the schooling side of things.\u201d <\/p>\n
Condron has done a lot of winning in her career. Last year, she played a key role as the Tritons won the 2025 Big West Championship, and in 2022, she helped Victoria claim gold at the National Under-20 Championships. <\/p>\n
In her junior days, she thrived playing against the best players in Australia, and there\u2019s no doubt those tournaments set on the path to being a standout college player. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just amazing,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI’m so grateful that I was able to be a part of that with incredible teammates and incredible coaches. I developed a lot playing against that level of talent, just being able to see myself go up against these amazing players, the best players in Australia, and represent my state, it was an incredible experience.\u201d <\/p>\n
Looking back at that 2022 under-20 Victorian team, it\u2019s incredible to see where they are now. The likes of Condron, Sophie Burrows, Tess Heal and Dyani Ananiev are all thriving in college, while Nyadiew Puoch and Dallas Loughridge are stars of the WNBL. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love it,\u201d Condron said of seeing her former teammates finding success in their own journeys. <\/p>\n
\u201cI make sure to keep up with how everyone’s going, and I just feel so happy that everyone’s doing so well. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s amazing to see all the Aussies doing so well in the States at the moment and then Dallas and Nyadiew, they’re doing incredible in the WNBL, so kudos to them.\u201d <\/p>\n
With Erin Condron having cemented herself among the top Australians in division one women\u2019s college basketball, the sky really is the limit for the classy and efficient forward, but for now, she\u2019s focused on one objective. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal is to win the Big West championship,” she said.<\/p>\n
About the Author<\/p>\n
Hayley Wildes is passionate about all things Australian women\u2019s basketball and loves to highlight the stories of players from all levels and competitions across the globe. From our own backyard in the WNBL, to the WNBA and the Opals, and everything in between, Hayley has you covered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Erin Condron\u2019s consistency and two-way impact have driven UC San Diego\u2019s Big West surge. Finding consistency is so…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-452750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}