New faces, with familiar standards as back-to-back champion Whai chase a three-peat
Head Coach: Tane Bennett (2nd year, 9-5)
2025 Finish: 9-5, Champions
Key Returnee: Laina Snyder
Key Signing: Nici Gilday
Player to Watch: Emme Shearer
The challenge facing The Northern Group Tauranga Whai in 2026 is one no other Tauihi franchise has yet come up against.
How do you follow back-to-back championships?
The Whai enter the Tauihi season five attempting to become the first team to win three consecutive titles, but the group charged with tackling the challenge looks significantly different from the one that lifted the trophy last December.
A strong foundation remains.
Laina Snyder is back after another outstanding season and a historic Grand Final performance. Emme Shearer returns after establishing herself as one of New Zealand's premier guards. Sophie Rogers remains part of the club she has represented throughout its rise, while the next generation of talented Tauranga players continue their progression through the Whai pathway.
But around them there has been substantial change.
Hannah Hank, Mikayla Cowling, Jess McDowell-White, Jade Kirisome and Tayla Dalton were all major contributors on the championship trail a season ago and have now departed.
In their place the Whai have looked for experience and versatility.
Veteran American guard Nici Gilday brings a decade of professional basketball. German international Patricia Brossmann adds elite rebounding. Carla Pitman arrives with WNBL experience and the ability to influence almost every statistical category. Ashlee Strawbridge and Emilee Tahata add more local depth, while Eva Langton returns to the club after helping Whai win the 2024 championship.
The result is a team that looks different, but carry a very familiar core philosophy.
Play hard. Share the basketball. Defend. Compete.
And find a way to win.
New arrivals from the 2025 Whai roster in bold.
Emme Shearer #5
Laina Snyder #14
Ashlee Strawbridge #31
Carla Pitman #4
Eva Langton #10
Nici Gilday #12
Patricia Brossmann #34
Sophie Rogers #9
Maya Taingahue #74
Emilee Tahata #24
Keija Miringaorangi #7
Issy Gillard #13
Charis Broughton #6
Shamar Broughton #8
Carly Ohia #0
Riley McClenaghan #2
The Whai championship run was built at the defensive end.
They allowed a league-low 77.3 points per game, held opponents to just 40 percent shooting, and finished with the best scoring margin in Tauihi at +5.29 points per game.
They were also outstanding with the basketball against pressure.
Tauranga averaged 20.9 assists per game, ranked second in the competition, while turning it over only 12.4 times. Their 1.69 assist-to-turnover ratio led Tauihi, and their +0.93 turnover margin ranked second.
| Team Stat | 2025 Whai | League Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Scoring offence | 82.6 ppg | 3rd |
| Scoring defence | 77.3 ppg allowed | 1st |
| Scoring margin | +5.29 | 1st |
| Field goal percentage | 42% | 4th |
| FG% defence | 40% | 1st |
| 3-point percentage | 33% | 3rd |
| 3-pointers made | 9.93 per game | 2nd |
| Free throw percentage | 81% | 1st |
| Rebounding margin | +0.07 | 4th |
| Assists | 20.86 apg | 2nd |
| Steals | 8.50 spg | 2nd |
| Blocks | 3.57 bpg | 3rd |
| Turnovers | 12.36 per game | 2nd fewest |
| Turnover margin | +0.93 | 2nd |
| Assist/turnover ratio | 1.69 | 1st |
The Whai were not the biggest team or the highest-scoring team.
They were simply the most efficient at turning possessions into winning basketball.
That was never more obvious than in the Grand Final.
The departures are significant, but Whai retain two players who were central to everything they achieved last season.
Snyder and Shearer combined for more than 31 points per game and gave Head Coach Tane Bennett two players capable of influencing games in varying styles.
Snyder averaged 15.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists, finishing second in Tauihi in rebounding, second in steals and sixth in scoring. Her all-round impact earned her selection to the 2025 Tauihi All-Star Five.
Then came the Grand Final.
Snyder pulled down a Tauihi Grand Final-record 20 rebounds, adding 14 points, six assists and three steals as Whai defeated Mainland Pouākai 93-66.
Shearer was equally important across the season.
The Tall Fern averaged 15.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists, shooting 45 percent from the field, 38 percent from three and 83 percent from the foul line.
Her 217 total points made her the highest-scoring Kiwi player in Tauihi last season.
With so much of the surrounding roster changing, those two give the champs a proven foundation to build from.
Outside that duo most of the key contributors have changed, but there is little reason to expect Bennett to abandon the principles that have made Whai successful.
This roster again looks capable of switching positions, defending across the floor and playing through multiple creators.
The change begins at the point guard position.
Jess McDowell-White averaged 6.9 assists per game last season, second in Tauihi, while also contributing 12.1 points. Her departure leaves the role of floor general to fill.
Enter Nici Gilday.
The 34-year-old American has played professionally for more than a decade across Australia and Europe. Most recently she averaged 18.3 points and 5.3 assists per game for Amyntas in the Greek A1 League.
That combination of scoring and creation makes her a natural candidate to control the Whai offence.
Pitman gives Bennett another facilitator.
She averaged 12.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists for Mt Gambier in NBL1 South while being named the club's Defensive Player of the Year.
A perimeter attack featuring Gilday, Pitman and Shearer gives Whai multiple players capable of initiating offence rather than relying on one traditional point guard.
The frontcourt has also look to reshape on the fly.
Brossmann comes directly from an NBL1 West season in which she averaged 19.3 points and 12.2 rebounds, while Snyder remains one of Tauihi's elite rebounders.
That combination could address one of the few areas in which Whai were not among the competition's best last season.
Their +0.07 rebounding margin ranked only fourth.
There is every chance that changes.
There is no disguising the amount of talent that has left.
Hannah Hank led Whai in scoring at 18.0 points per game and averaged 9.7 rebounds, finishing third in the league in scoring and earning selection to the 2025 Tauihi All-Star Five.
Mikayla Cowling averaged 12.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists, and won't be a part of the club for the first time in since 2021 after spending the last three season's with the club.
McDowell-White contributed 12.1 points and 6.9 assists while directing the offence.
Kirisome was one of Whai's most experienced guards and a major Rapid League contributor.
Dalton brought leadership and control from the bench as a rookie, but has moved back home to join the Northern Kāhu.
That is not simply lost production.
It is lost experience and continuity from a team that knew exactly how to play together.
Gilday brings much needed experience.
Her professional career has taken her through Sweden, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Latvia, Bulgaria, Greece and Australia, and she arrives after leading Amyntas in both scoring and assists.
Brossmann brings a level of physicality.
The German international has played professionally in Germany, France, Italy and Australia and represented Germany at the 2026 FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament. Her 12.2 rebounds per game with Perth Redbacks immediately stand out.
Pitman will bring the versatility.
The Australian guard already has 41 WNBL appearances with Sydney Flames despite being only 22, and her NBL1 numbers demonstrate her ability to score, rebound, facilitate and defend.
Strawbridge adds another young Tall Fern.
She averaged 10.5 points and 3.6 rebounds for West Adelaide during their run to the NBL1 Central Grand Final and shot 42 percent from three across 23 WNBL appearances with the Adelaide Lightning.
Tahata arrives after four NCAA Division I seasons and an NBL1 campaign with Brisbane, bringing another versatile body into the forward rotation.
Then there is the return of Langton. She was part of the Whai team that won the 2024 championship and returns after spending last season with Southern Hoiho. She has already won two Tauihi titles, one with Tokomanawa in 2022 before helping the Whai to collect their first trophy.
Snyder is an obvious starting point.
She has been at the centre of both Whai championships and enters 2026 following another excellent professional season in Sweden, where she averaged 19 points and nine rebounds for Uppsala Basket. Her familiarity with the league is a strength as she enters her fourth Tauihi season ( two with Whai, one with Hoiho in 2022).
Shearer returns with powerful momentum of her own.
After her breakout Tauihi season, she earned All-Star Five honours at the 2026 Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Mexico, averaging 17.3 points per game and scoring a Tall Ferns career-high 32 points against South Sudan. She then averaged a team-high 16.5 points for Kilsyth in NBL1 South.
Rogers remains one of Whai's most familiar players at just 19 years of age, and again looks likely to provide perimeter shooting and energy across both Tauihi and Rapid League.
Charis and Shamar Broughton return for their second seasons in the senior environment, while Gillard and McClenaghan continue their progression after receiving their first Rapid League opportunities in 2025.
Can Shearer take another gigantic step in her career?
She was already Whai's second-leading scorer in 2025 and the highest-scoring Kiwi in the competition.
Since then she has played WNBL, led Kilsyth in scoring in NBL1 and produced an outstanding Tall Ferns campaign.
Whai have lost several established offensive players, meaning there may be even greater responsibility heading Shearer's way.
At 24, this could be the season in which she moves from emerging star to one of the true faces of the competition and New Zealand basketball.
The Whai were champions despite ranking fourth in rebounding margin a season ago.
Adding a player coming directly from a 19.3-point, 12.2-rebound NBL1 season could change that quickly.
Brossmann's ability to secure the ball and initiate transition also fits Bennett's desire to get his athletic wings moving at pace with space.
Put her alongside Snyder and suddenly the Whai possess one of the league's most imposing rebounding combinations.
Pitman looks to be the player who connects everything.
She can defend multiple positions, rebound from the guard spot and initiate the offence.
Her 2025 NBL1 season even included a triple-double of 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
That kind of versatility gives Bennett options to choose from.
Pitman could start possessions as a guard, finish them as a cutter, defend bigger wings and reduce the amount of ball-handling pressure placed on Gilday.
Few teams have committed as strongly to young New Zealand talent as Whai have in this roster.
The Broughton twins return with another year of experience.
Charis averaged 6.6 points in five Rapid League appearances last season, shooting 40 percent from the field, 36 percent from three and 90 percent at the line.
She then played an important role for New Zealand at the 2026 FIBA U17 World Cup, helping the team to a historic fifth-place finish.
Shamar averaged 5.8 points in five Rapid appearances and shot 39 percent from three.
Both remain only 17.
Keija Miringaorangi joins the development group after representing New Zealand at age-group level and earning selection for the Junior Tall Ferns. Her strong domestic scoring and work ethic make her another guard with significant upside.
Gillard gives the Whai genuine size at 193cm. She made her Rapid League debut last season and now steps from training partner to development player.
McClenaghan also returns with three Rapid appearances to her resumé, averaging 5.0 points and shooting 4-of-8 from three.
Carly Ohia adds another young player with New Zealand 3x3 experience and a versatile skill set.
For much of this group, Rapid League will be where they find their feet and meaningful minutes, while training every day around experienced professionals such as Snyder, Gilday, Brossmann, Shearer and Pitman.
That is exactly what the competition was designed to provide.
The Whai do not need every one of these players to be ready for major Tauihi minutes immediately. but they need them to keep progressing and who knows when someone's shoulder will get tapped.
The championship team lost two of its primary creators.
McDowell-White averaged 6.9 assists. Cowling averaged 3.9. Together they accounted for 151 assists across the season. Thanks in large part to those efforts the Whai led Tauihi in assist-to-turnover ratio and ranked second in assists.
Maintaining that level of ball movement will be crucial.
Gilday's recent 5.3 assists per game in Greece suggest she can take a major part of the load, while Pitman's 5.4 assists in NBL1 provides another answer. Snyder has proven to be an excellent passer from the forward position and you would expect Shearer to continue growing as a facilitator.
The pieces are there.
The question is how quickly they can connect.
There is only one obvious benchmark for a team that has won the past two championships.
Whai will want another chance to defend the trophy.
But getting there will take a new path for a new team. The 2025 team had enormous continuity and five starters who understood each other's tendencies.
The 2026 team has more new faces.
Bennett must integrate an experienced new backcourt, a different frontcourt partner for Snyder and several players who have never played Tauihi basketball before.
The standards, however, are well established.
Last year's team ranked first in scoring defence, scoring margin, field-goal percentage defence, free-throw percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio.
If the new group can preserve that defensive and decision-making identity while finding enough offence around Snyder and Shearer, Whai will again give themselves an opportunity at the business end of the season.
The names may have changed. The expectations have not.
Tauranga Whai enter 2026 as the team everyone is trying to knock off after consecutive championships.
Snyder and Shearer give them two proven stars around whom to rebuild, with Snyder returning as a reigning Tauihi All-Star Five selection.
Gilday brings experience and playmaking. Brossmann brings rebounding. Pitman provides versatility. Strawbridge and Tahata add depth, while Langton already knows what it takes to win in a Whai jersey.
Behind them sits a young group that could shape the next era of the club. There is more uncertainty than there was 12 months ago.
But there is also something Whai possess that cannot be recruited in free agency.
This is a franchise that knows how to win.
Now they get the chance to prove they can do it again.
