12 years after a Boomers pre-season video, Rebecca Allen’s own advice now reads as a farewell.<\/p>\n
Australian basketball star Rebecca Allen<\/a> said: “Take every opportunity as it comes; work hard for everything so you can achieve what you hope to achieve.”<\/p>\n It’s the 33-year-old’s Last Dance as the eighth-seed New York Liberty<\/a> face the No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx<\/a> in the first round of the 2026 WNBA Playoffs<\/a>, starting at 4am (AEST) on Monday, September 28.<\/p>\n Allen uttered those words 12 years ago as part of a Melbourne Boomers<\/a> pre-season video.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n More than a decade later, after 289 WNBA games and three FIBA Women’s World Cup medals for the Australian Opals, the 1.88m shooting guard announced her retirement in early August.<\/p>\n Allen has been a core part of the Liberty rotation in 2026; she\u2019s played 29 games for the team that she started with back in 2015. She\u2019s been on fire in the back half of the season. The Victorian has shot a blistering 49.2% from three since August 1.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I\u2019ve just tried to stay true to the process of it all,\u201d Allen said earlier this week.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, nothing really has changed from the start. It\u2019s more so that I\u2019m just trying to keep my head cool and calm. You get more comfortable within the offence, too, so you become a bit more patient out on the court. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s been a big thing for me. But it is nice to hear that percentage. It\u2019s definitely helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n The Liberty face the best team in the league \u2013 Australian Opals\u2019 Chloe Bibby\u2019s Minnesota Lynx \u2013 in a three-game series starting in Minnesota. But the Liberty have Breanna Stewart, who led Team USA to gold at the 2026 FIBA Women\u2019s World Cup in Berlin.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to butter her up too much, but for me, honestly, playing with people like Stewie is a gift,\u201d Allen said. <\/p>\n \u201cI think she\u2019s a different kind of superstar. The way that she speaks to her team is unlike any other.<\/p>\n \u201cShe makes the game so much easier. Stars who not only create for themselves but for everyone else, and are selfless, are rare. For me, it\u2019s something that I really enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n Allen is one of eight Australians in the field, and they are spread further through this bracket than at any point in recent memory: seven of the eight playoff teams carry one. Only the Indiana Fever<\/a> (c\u2019mon Indiana!) do not.<\/p>\n 1 Minnesota Lynx v 8 New York Liberty<\/p>\n Three Australians, more than any other series. Allen played 29 of New York’s 44 games, starting 12, and shot 40.6% from three, the best mark of any Australian in the field. Alongside her is Anneli Maley<\/a>, who managed 11 games and 7.5 minutes a night across two teams this season, and who stood beside Allen at the Liberty’s farewell ceremony.<\/p>\n On the other bench is Chloe Bibby<\/a>, who also played for two teams in 2026 and finished with nine games, 4.9 points and 35.7% from deep. Minnesota lost eleven games all year.<\/p>\n 2 Golden State Valkyries v 7 Dallas Wings<\/p>\n Alanna Smith<\/a> is the most accomplished Australian left in the draw and the one whose season asks the most questions. She played 32 of Dallas<\/a>‘s 44 games, started 18, and averaged 6.0 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17.9 minutes. That is a long way from the player who has anchored Opal’s frontcourt, and the Wings will need the other version of her against a Golden State<\/a> side that won 32 games in its second season.<\/p>\n The Valkyries carry Miela Sowah<\/a>, seven appearances and 3.4 minutes a game, so her involvement is likely to be situational.<\/p>\n 3 Las Vegas Aces v 6 Indiana Fever<\/p>\n Stephanie Talbot<\/a> has had a quietly excellent season. She started 43 of Las Vegas<\/a>‘ 44 games, which no other Australian in this field can say, and shot 48.3% from the floor for 4.0 points and 2.6 rebounds in 17.3 minutes. She is not the scorer here, and she is not meant to be; she is the one the Aces start.<\/p>\n Indiana is the only playoff team without an Australian, and at 28-16, they are the best-credentialed sixth seed in the bracket.<\/p>\n 4 Atlanta Dream v 5 Washington Mystics<\/p>\n The best Australian matchup of the round, and a generational one.<\/p>\n Georgia Amoore<\/a> started all 44 games at point guard for Washington<\/a>, a year after losing a season to an ACL injury in training camp. She averaged 7.0 points and 3.4 assists in 23 minutes, shot 35.2% from three and 85.1% from the line, and no Australian in this field played more minutes or had the ball in her hands more often.<\/p>\n Opposite her, Isobel Borlase<\/a> also played all 44 games for Atlanta<\/a>, almost entirely off the bench, for 4.8 points in 13 minutes at 89.5% from the free-throw line. The 22-year-old was Australia’s breakout act in Berlin last month, and she is the reason this series is the one to set an alarm for.<\/p>\n The 4 First Round series, paired, with every Australian on a playoff roster named. An Australian is in all four series, and three of the 4 are Australian against Australian. Times are AEST.<\/p>\n Where these names come from, and what we could not confirm<\/p>\n \n How the Australians were identified \u2013 twice. Once from each playoff club\u2019s own published roster, taking every player born in Australia, and again from our own list of Australians in the WNBA, matched against those same rosters. Both routes returned the same eight players, and the two share no data, so they are a genuine check on each other rather than one answer counted twice. The Australians who did not make it<\/p>\n Ezi Magbegor<\/a> and Jade Melbourne<\/a> are out with the Seattle Storm<\/a>, who finished 8-36 and last in the league. Sami Whitcomb<\/a>‘s Phoenix Mercury<\/a> went 16-28 and Nyadiew Puoch<\/a>‘s Portland Fire<\/a> 17-27 in their first season.<\/p>\n
One name is deliberately not here. Our own list had a player at a playoff club who is not on that club\u2019s current roster. We read the full squad rather than searching for her, so it is not a spelling miss. The club\u2019s own roster is the right answer to \u201cwho is in the playoffs\u201d, so she is left out and our list is the thing that needs correcting.
No seedings. The source published no seed numbers, and working them out from win-loss records would be us guessing at the league\u2019s own order. The series are listed by when Game 1 tips instead, and the win-loss column is each club\u2019s regular season.
1 of the 8 playoff teams has no Australian: Indiana Fever.
Reading the table. Rows are paired \u2013 each series is two rows, the home club first. A tinted row with an AUS tag has an Australian on it; the tag is there because colour on its own is not something every reader can use. Tap a heading to sort, or filter to the clubs with an Australian.\n <\/p>\n