Marena Whittle

Born and raised in Melbourne, Marena Whittle played basketball all through her school years.

She was a talent early on, winning multiple medals at National School Championships and named MVP in 2011.

In 2012 Marena moved to the USA to play basketball for North Dakota State University. The next four years saw Marena play over 100 games for them.

Returning home in 2016, Marena joined the Nunawading Spectres and made her debut in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). In 2017 Marena earned All-SEABL First Team honours.

After returning briefly to the Spectres in 2018, Marena went on to join the Bendigo Spirit for her WBNL debut.

In 2019 Marena moved west to join the Perth Lynx. In her lone season with the Lynx, Marena won the club's Most Improved Player award. It was also a year where she was very intrigued by the 3x3 game.

"“I love 3×3 because there’s so much freedom on the court and everyone matters, and gets the chance to play with the basketball and to have an impact in one way or another," Marena said in 2019.

"I find in 5×5 that you can kind of get by just being a role player but in 3×3 there’s nowhere to hide out there. I love it because on every play and in every game you need to make an impact. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with that but I also have so much fun with it because there’s so much freedom and that’s how I like to play.

"The girls that are successful in 3×3 probably play quite similarly to that. I found that not only was 3×3 a lot of fun but it just adds a different dynamic to the game of basketball and I really enjoyed it.”

From 2020 to 2023 Marena played for the Adelaide Lightning in the WBNL.

International success came in the 3x3 game for Marena in 2022, winning silver at the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup. Later in the year Marena made her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham as she helped Australia win a historic bronze medal, where she was the tournament leader for one-point shooting percentage at 62%.

In the following year Marena also won bronze at the 2023 FIBA 3x3 World Cup.

Most recently Marena won her first international gold as the Aussies won the 2024 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup.

In 2024 Marena won gold with the Aussies at the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup. Most impressively, Marena and her Paris 2024 teammates Anneli Maley, Lauren Mansfield and Alex Wilson were part of the first Gangurrus team to win a FIBA 3x3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Victories against Kenya (22-9) and no.2 seed Canada (21-16) in the group stages set up a high intensity semi-final against Brazil (18-16) and a nail-biting rematch against Canada (19-16) in the final. It was their last chance to qualify, as they were not eligible to participate in the final Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Hungary.

The win was extra special as she got to celebrate alongside her fiance Anneli.

In Paris Marena and the Gangurrus rebounded from an opening loss to Canada with four-straight wins.

Marena was a spark plug for the team, consistently getting Australia off to strong starts with her determined drives to the rim and finishing ability in traffic.

Entering the 'play-in' games as one of the top six teams after the group stage in Paris, the Gangurrus needed to win a rematch against Canada to advance to the semi-finals. Canada was too good, winning 21-10.