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25 November 2025  5 min read

NBL/WNBL Players and Teams of the Week - 22/23 Nov 2025

Chosen in conjunction with Darren Paul and the FocusHoops team, who assess the best and brightest in D1W, and the BE team, you can have your say on this week’s selections and give a shout-out to the players you think deserve one by using the hashtag #NBL2526. Don’t forget to tag us!

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How it works

Each week, a standout player plus four other worthy selections will be put forward to make the Player and Team Of The Week in both D1M and D1W, paying attention to the following criteria:

• Efficiency
• Stats
• Team and opposition strength
• Periods of influence in the game
• Being on a winning team (exceptional performances from players on losing teams will be considered for TOTW)

Players of the Week

After helping St Helens to down Pool A leaders Birmingham City University, Saints' Disraeli Lufadeju is the latest D1M Player of the Week.

Dropping a game-high 24 points in the 92-76 victory, Lufadeju splashed 3/6 from long-range to go with a perfect 7/7 from the foul line, adding 11 rebounds for the double-double. Nine of his points came as part of a pivotal 25-15 third quarter that gave the hosts a lead they would never relinquish.

His D1W counterpart for this week is London Cavaliers' Janice Monakana, who once again impressed with 28-point, 11-rebound double-double of her own.

Ex-GB star Monakana was too much for Anglia Ruskin to handle, leading all scorers in the 67-61 win, and making Ruskin pay for a bruising seven fouls by going a spotless 11/11 from the charity stripe.

The talented forward chipped in 13 of the Cavs' 22 fourth-quarter points, with all of them coming inside the last 7:35 of action to erase a 52-45 deficit heading into the last and turn it into a six-point win.

D1M Team of the Week

Disraeli Lufadeju - St Helens Saints (24pts, 11reb, 3ast, 2stl, 28eff)

Sable Cooper - Barnet Bulldogs (27pts, 4reb, 2ast, 6stl, 25eff)

Junior Sanchez - Myerscough Basketball Academy (17pts, 10reb, 3stl, 24eff)

Luke Busumbru - Solent Kestrels (14pts, 7reb, 4ast, 2stl, 23eff)

Jack Walton - Manchester Magic (25pts, 5reb, 4ast, 27eff)

Lufadeju headlines this week's team, and he's joined by a familiar face in Barnet's Sable Cooper who has now made it three straight selections after his red-hot form continued in the 90-71 victory against CoLA on Saturday. 

A battle with Liverpool's Andre Gayle clearly brought out the best in Junior Sanchez as the young Myerscough standout helped his side into the top-four conversation, while Solent's Luke Busumbru shot a highly efficient 6/8 FGs for his 14 points in Solent's low-scoring win against Cobham, adding seven rebounds and four assists for good measure.

Manchester's Jack Walton rounds the team out, nailing 5/8 from long-range as part of the 25-point performance that saw Magic past Teesside Lions.

Honourable mentions

Andre Gayle - Liverpool (29pts, 7/13 3PT, 6reb, 3stl, 29eff)
Emmanuel Yeboah - Worcester Wolves (19pts, 6reb, 5stl, 25eff)
Earl Burgess - Worcester Wolves (19pts, 9reb, 2blk, 27eff)
Max Coupe - Cobham Cobras (21pts, 7reb, 3ast, 24eff)
Zak Missouri - Teesside Lions (17pts, 4reb, 2ast, 19eff)

D1W Team of the Week

Janice Monakana - London Cavaliers (28pts, 11reb, 4stl, 27eff)

Adaora Dioramma - CoLA Southwark Pride (21pts, 11reb, 3stl, 28eff)

Chandera Jones-Aryeh - CoLA Southwark Pride (16pts, 5reb, 14ast, 2stl, 24eff)

Kizzy Spence - Manchester Mystics (25pts, 7reb, 2ast, 2stl, 18eff)

Success Odemwingie - Manchester Mystics (9pts, 11reb, 4ast, 2stl, 17eff)

Janice Monakana continues to justify her tag as one of the most exciting signings of the off-season, leading the Cavs into the title conversation in the process.

Chandera Jones-Aryeh marked her first start of the season for CoLA with an impressive 16-point, 14-assist double-double in the 84-72 win against Bromsgrove, with team-mate Adaora Dioramma also putting together a complete performance to help Pride win the battle on the glass 41-32, picking up over a quarter of her side's rebounds in the process.

Manchester duo Kizzy Spence and Success Odemwingie take the remaining two spots in this week's five for their efforts at opposite ends of the court. Spence's 25 points were 14 more than her next closest team-mate, providing the bulk of the Mystics' offence in their statement 69-51 victory over Ipswich.

Odemwingie provided plenty of production of her own, but it was her starring role in the side's defensive display that earned her a nod, limiting an Ipswich offence that entered the game averaging 83.1PPG to just 51 points, also limiting the ever-dangerous Harriet Welham to just nine points.

This week's selections were certainly challenging, with Cavaliers' Theresa Jackson unfortunate to just miss out on a spot in the five despite her strong stat line against ARU.

Honourable mentions

Theresa Jackson - London Cavaliers (12pts, 11reb, 10ast, 4stl, 20eff)
Rebecca Brindley - Bromsgrove Bears (26pts, 6reb, 2ast, 7stl, 25eff)
Lateisha Willis - Manchester Mystics (8pts, 14reb, 2ast, 2stl, 20eff)

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Main image credit - Ellie Wright Photography