Abby Cubillo has achieved an enormous amount both in the WNBL and NBL1 despite only having just turned 26 but she was after a new challenge which she was excited to embrace at the East Perth Eagles of NBL1 West.

Cubillo has good reason to think that her prime basketball years are still ahead of her, but the tough and creative point guard has already achieved so much including being a two-time WNBL championship winner at the UC Capitals.

She's also played with the Adelaide Lightning in the WNBL along with stints at the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders, Centre of Excellence, Canberra Nationals, Brisbane Capitals and Southern Districts Spartans either in the various NBL1 conferences or what the state league's previously were.

Cubillo also played at the Mainland Pouakai late in 2024 in the New Zealand Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa where she was teammates with Eagles captain Tessa Morrison.

That's where the first thought entered Cubillo's mind of playing in Western Australia for the first time and when she was weighing up where to play in 2025, she did like the thought of taking on a new challenge.

In turn, that lined up perfectly with what new East Perth coach Tim Symons wanted to build. His first port of call was to have a dominant big to build around and he found Sasha Goodlett, and his next target was finding a tough, experienced, dynamic and creative point guard.

Cubillo well and truly fit that bell, and it didn’t take long once Symons and Cubillo made contact with one another that it felt like a good fit, and now six games into the 2025 season things couldn’t be going better.

The Eagles have won five of those six matches with Cubillo instrumental in everything the team is doing by delivering 19.3 points, 6.2 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooting 47 per cent from the field, 50 per cent from downtown and 79 per cent at the foul line.

That is some of the best basketball that Cubillo has played in her career and she couldn’t be happier with the way she has been welcomed at the Eagles, and how things are tracking so far.

"I'm really enjoying my time so far over here in Perth with the Eagles. As soon as I got to be around the team I felt right at home, and it's been a pleasure to play with and get to the know girls," Cubillo said.

"I am feeling pretty good about my game. I'm not putting any pressure on myself and just wanting to enjoy the season. I feel mature in my role as a point guard and am hopeful that I can continue to contribute to the team in any way they need me to!"

Tracking back to when Cubillo was weighing up where she wanted to play in 2025 ahead of what could lead to a WNBL return all things going well, it was a new challenge that most excited her.

Before playing in New Zealand late last year, she played seven games in the NBL1 North at the Southern Districts Spartans which came after seven matches the previous year at the Brisbane Capitals which came after her last WNBL season in 2022/23 at the Adelaide Lightning.

Having played down a lot of the east coast and then even Adelaide, when the call came that the Eagles of the NBL1 West were interested, it instantly appealed to Cubillo.

When she then heard the way that Symons wanted her to play and the team to operate, and that she would be the head of the snake, then she liked the idea even more.

Then knowing she had already previously been a teammate of Eagles captain Morrison was the icing on the cake.

"I have lived pretty much all over the east coast and coming up to this NBL1 season I was a bit stumped with what I wanted to do and where I wanted to play," Cubillo said.

"I think speaking with Tim initially, I knew that the environment would be one I enjoyed. I also previously played with Tessa in NZ, and she was a big driving force in me finding the confidence to come play for the Eagles."

Speaking of the team Symons wanted to build, he wanted the Eagles to be physically imposing. That started with Cubillo who might be small in stature, but hits as hard as anyone in the country as experienced by 479-game 2014 Grand Final MVP Joe-Alan Tupaea at practice as an assistant coach.

But then not only did Symons want a terrific point guard, he wanted her to have a genuine big she could work off and the combination already Cubillo has with Goodlett, fresh off 42 points and 14 rebounds against Mandurah, is working a treat.

"Playing with Sash has been so fun!," Cubillo said.

"Not only is she a dominant post presence for us, but she is also a very high IQ player. I think we play very well together, and she has taught me a lot already this season."

Not only is Cubillo loving life in WA and at the Eagles, but she is excited to be part of the first ever Women's Indigenous Basketball Australia All-Stars clash with the Poit?kohu M?ori o Aotearoa from New Zealand in Melbourne on June 11.

"I am so proud to be a part of the first IBA women’s Indigenous All Stars team," Cubillo said.

"For me, there is no better feeling than being able to represent my culture and family. I am friends with a lot of the girls on the team and I’m looking forward to the experience with them."

Chris Pike

Cubillo embracing new challenge out West with Eagles