Signing coup for Pioneers women

The OneFortyOne Pioneers 2023 roster has become even stronger with excitement machine, Zitina Aokuso coming to Mount Gambier.

Aokuso is a 193 cm power forward who grew up in Brisbane and made her International debut for the Gems at the 2016 FIBA Under-018 Oceania Championship in Suva, Fiji. Australia took home the gold and Aokuso herself was named MVP for the gold medal game.

The twenty-four-year-old is a 2018 WBNL champion with the Townsville Fire, WBNL Sixth Woman of the Year in 2020 and an Asian Cup Bronze Medalist with the Opals in 2021. She has been described by The Inner Sanctum as developing to be one of Australia’s best bigs, and ‘Z’ is set to become a Pioneer.

In her NBL1 career with the Melbourne Tigers and Ballarat Miners, Aokuso has averaged a solid 16.58 points per game, shooting at 47.17% from the floor and an impressive 9.75 rebounds and 3.61 assists per game.

Head coach Matt Sutton was excited to add Aokuso to his roster for the 2023 season. “Zitina gives our group a strong interior presence on both ends; she has a lot of high-level experience and will have a lot to offer our program and community,” Sutton said. “We are really happy to have Zitina join our program and can’t wait to get to work with her once her WNBL commitments are done.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF IAN KNIGHT