{"id":7058,"date":"2025-10-23T18:16:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T07:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/?p=7058"},"modified":"2025-10-27T10:10:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T23:10:31","slug":"double-the-glory-the-university-of-tasmania-make-history-with-mens-and-womens-new-balance-university-basketball-league-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/double-the-glory-the-university-of-tasmania-make-history-with-mens-and-womens-new-balance-university-basketball-league-wins\/","title":{"rendered":"Double The Glory: The University of Tasmania Make History With Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s New Balance University Basketball League Wins"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2240\" height=\"1260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-Win-2025-UBL-1.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-Win-2025-UBL-1.png 2240w, https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-Win-2025-UBL-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-Win-2025-UBL-1-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-Win-2025-UBL-1-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-Win-2025-UBL-1-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-Win-2025-UBL-1-2048x1152.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2240px) 100vw, 2240px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>With over 140 games played across five states, the 2025 New Balance University Basketball League (UBL) finished on a historic note, as The University of Tasmania took out both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s titles in their first ever Grand Final appearance, marking the first time a team has won the double in the UBL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The men kicked off grand final week as USYD hosted The University of Tasmania at USYD Sports and Aquatic Centre. Looking for redemption after missing out on victory in the 2024 Grand Final, USYD were on the hunt as they hit the court running, setting the tone early. After trailing for three quarters and facing a 14-point deficit, Tasmania launched a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback, lifting their intensity on both ends of the court to level the score, before pushing ahead to secure a 79-70 victory and claiming their first New Balance UBL Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The women then took to the court at Warrane Sports Centre, as The University of Tasmania took on the UniSC Mari (University of the Sunshine Coast) with both teams making their New Balance UBL Grand Final debut. The opening quarter was tightly contested, with both sides trading baskets in an even display of skill and intensity. However, momentum shifted in the second term after the Sunshine Coast suffered an injury to a key player, disrupting their rhythm. Tasmania capitalised on this, seizing control and dominating the second and third quarters, at one point creating a 30-point deficit. Despite a late resurgence from the UniSC Mari, who found their spark again and controlled the fourth term, it wasn\u2019t enough to come back, with Tasmania claiming a convincing 96-75 win to secure their first New Balance UBL Championship, completing the men\u2019s and women\u2019s sweep for 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a post-match interview, women&#8217;s player of the match Sharna Thompson (University of Tasmania) who scored 37 points during the Grand Final showdown, said on their maiden win \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing feeling, we came in knowing this was going to be a tough game, UniSC added a really talented player to their team since we last played them.\u201d She added \u201cI\u2019m really proud of the girls, and it\u2019s time to celebrate with the boys.\u201d Sharna also highlighted how the team entered the game as a united group, with clear targets and goals to achieve throughout the match, which they were able to accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2025 New Balance UBL season reached new heights this year, delivering thrilling matches, unforgettable moments, and historic achievements across both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s competitions. With Semester Two timing allowing for full-strength line-ups and no longer clashing with NBL1, the season showcased exceptional skill, fierce competition, and a grand final that perfectly capped off an unforgettable campaign. This year has truly set a new benchmark for university basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The New Balance University Basketball League will return next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-UBL-2025-Champions-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7076\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-UBL-2025-Champions-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-UBL-2025-Champions-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-UBL-2025-Champions-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-UBL-2025-Champions-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTAS-UBL-2025-Champions.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">2025 New Balance UBL Champions: University of Tasmania<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Catch all the action live and free on \u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/unisporttv.sporfie.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>UniSportTV<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow the UBL on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ubl_unisportau\/\"><strong>Instagram<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;to stay up to date on all the action, and subscribe to our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/unisportAUS\"><strong>YouTube<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>channel<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;to catch every highlight<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With over 140 games played across five states, the 2025 New Balance &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":7060,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"iawp_total_views":192,"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,174],"unis_sport_category":[108],"unis_league_category":[52],"unis_university_category":[94,95,92],"class_list":["post-7058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leagues","category-ubl","unis_sport_category-basketball","unis_league_category-new-balance-university-basketball-league"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7058"},{"taxonomy":"unis_sport_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unis_sport_category?post=7058"},{"taxonomy":"unis_league_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unis_league_category?post=7058"},{"taxonomy":"unis_university_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisport.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unis_university_category?post=7058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}