Moore loving NBL1, Giants and Kalgoorlie

Featured image: Travis Anderson | @andmediaphoto

It could be 13th country lucky for Sierra Moore as she finally lands in Australia to play for the first time and she's starring in NBL1 West for Goldfields Giants and is fully embracing having a female coach for the first time since college too.

After finishing her college career at Penn State back in 2017, it's been quite the ride playing professionally for the prolific power forward playing all over the world since.

Moore has played in Argentina, Spain, Paraguay, Romania, Turkey, Finland, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Greece, Poland and Puerto Rico but one country yet to tick off was Australia.

She had always wanted to try coming down under and now when Giants coach Jaymi Worthington reached out to her agent, it all lined up for her to come to Kalgoorlie with the added bonus of having a first female coach since college.

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Moore has quickly adjusted to playing in the NBL1 for the first time too. Across the first five games for the Giants she is delivering 27.0 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals on shooting 59 per cent from the field and 67 per cent from three-point land.

With Delaynie Byrne alongside her in the front court and then with Lexi Pana and Hazelle Yam in the back court, the Giants look a real chance to reach the playoffs in 2026 for the first time having compiled a 19-61 record over the past four years.

Moore wants nothing more than to be part of a playoff run in her first NBL1 West season.

"It was kinda unfortunate that when we got here it was set up in the schedule that we only played one game and then had to wait two weeks because of the Easter break when we had a bye, but now that we have everybody here we feel like we're finding our feet," Moore said.

"Delaynie came in a little bit late and missed the first game and so did Yammy, but since we've had a couple more practices between them, we've been meshing and getting to know each other a lot more.

"That's very helpful with the team and as the season goes and I just think everybody's spirits are high. Now it's at a point where you just have to keep working hard because the Goldfields Giants only won four games last year.

"So coming up to this weekend this will be our fourth win already if we get it done so it's just about making sure everybody is staying the course and we're working hard in practice because we don't want to win this coming weekend and stop.

"We want to keep getting better and that's our goal because as I like to tell the girls, I didn’t come to Australia for vacation, I came to win.

"I want us to get to playoffs and that's our goal so everybody is behind that, and Jaymi as our coach really wants the club to get to a playoff spot. That's what we're really trying to achieve here so we've been working really hard on that."

Living in Kalgoorlie

When most Americans imagine coming to play in Australia and settling to live, it's usually with the image of living close to the water and being somewhere that is rather picturesque.

Living out in a town surrounded by the desert and known for its mining and gold doesn’t necessarily come to mind, but for Moore it's perfect for her.

Being in a small town environment is what Moore feels most comfortable with and she couldn’t be happier with where she's landed in Kalgoorlie both as somewhere to live and in terms of the basketball with the Giants.

"I feel like when everybody figures out where I'm at and especially most of the Australians, they always ask how I landed in Kalgoorlie out of all the teams and places you could play, but I honestly love it," Moore said.

"Even in Poland, I played in a really small town and I come from a really small town in Pennsylvania and I like playing in a small town. What I find is that the fans and the camaraderie is very, very tight compared to even what it would be like playing for a Perth team in NBL1.

"You have a lot of support and I had that mindset coming into it when I found out exactly where I was going to be located, and I didn’t really mind it as much as people might think.

"Of course I'm always coming to play basketball and I had other interest in Australia, but Jaymi reached out to my agent first so ethically I owed her that loyalty because she showed interest in me first.

"That was my thought process about picking to come here and it might not be beachside or wine country or anything, but still it's very laidback and I have all of the facilities and necessities that I need.

"It's been fine for me and I've made a lot of friends since I've been here and everybody's very really friendly, and I feel like Australians as a whole are that way so that's really refreshing.

"I've enjoyed my time so far and we still have a few months to go of the season and I'm just happy to keep enjoying my time here and every third weekend I go to Perth so I get a taste of the city too."

Playing under a female coach

While it didn’t necessarily play a hand in her decision to come and play with the Giants, Moore couldn’t be happier to now have a female coach with Jaymi Worthington continuing to lead Goldfields in 2026.

Moore hasn’t been on a team in any of her previous 12 countries she's played professionally that has had a female coach. Already five games in and she couldn’t be happier to be going on this journey with Worthington.

"I never really thought about it like that, but then when I got here and I was talking to Jaymi, and it clicked with me that she's only the third coach that I've that was a woman and the other two was when I was at college," Moore said.

"So that was 10 years ago but it's really nice to have that different perspective and it's refreshing to get a different side because I'm so used to a male coach.

"There are times with a male coach that it's just all business and it's all about the X's and O's, and sometimes understanding your emotional side is something you aren’t really comfortable sharing.

"So that's a lot different when it's a woman to woman and you can talk about some things that you know a woman will understand a lot better. So that's very nice and refreshing because I haven’t had that for a very long time and I think that's important.

"It's nice to have as many women coaches as we can even if it's assistant, they don't have to be head coach, but it's always nice to have a woman on the staff and I haven’t really had that since I was in college so it's nice to revisit that and I really appreciate Jaymi as a coach.

"She's always asking for feedback and she always is wanting to improve her ways of coaching and her game, and that only helps our whole team too."

Style of basketball in Australia

Having become accustomed to playing in Europe for a lot of her professional career over the past decade including the past two seasons where she's split her time between Poland and Puerto Rico, Moore is enjoying the basketball in Australia.

Both in terms of the style of play that is being played in the NBL1 West and then the fact that she's hearing the whistle blown more when she's attacking the basket, Moore feels her game is ideally suited to the Australian style basketball.

"I feel like it's very fundamentally sound which is really because that's so important especially when you're playing with a younger junior girls who are always practicing with you," Moore said.

"So fundamentals at that age are very important so making sure that all your juniors are fundamentally sound helps and sometimes it's nice to go back to the basics as you get older to keep making sure that you keep your basic form, you're making sure your dribbling is tight and you always have to keep working on your craft.

"It doesn’t stop as you get older so the emphasis on the fundamentals is very good here in Australia and also, it is physical but I feel like the physicality is easy for me after playing over in Europe especially places like Poland where the physicality is on a whole other level.

"The referees tend to hold their whistles over in Europe too so it's actually nice over here that I've been getting a lot more calls, and I have it set in my brain I won't hear a whistle so I take it as a bonus any time I do get a call my way.

"It's really important here that the referees take care of the players and try to stop anybody getting hurt, and it does feel like it's officiated much more like the WNBA which is nice and it's kind of made it easier to adjust to playing out here."

Backing in three-point shot more

The other aspect that Moore is trying to bring to her game more and more is to attempt more three-point shots. She feels playing in Australia will help her do that more too.

So far this season she is going at 67 per cent from deep, but that's only on six attempts across the opening five matches.

That's already matching the amount she attempted in all 17 matches in Poland last season with Bochnia, so she does expect to attempt more as the season with the Giants goes on and the rest of her career.

"I've also noticed there's a lot of three-point scoring here and I think that's the generation now in general, and it's nice playing in this league and I'm really adapting to it," Moore said.

"I feel more confident to shoot from the three and I've always been able to, I just didn’t really ever take as many as I probably could.

"So it's actually helping me a lot here being in Australia to expand my game and it's shaping me into a three-way scorer and I'm really excited about that because that gives me more years to play basketball if I'm shooting more threes.

"That's easier on my body because I love to drive and get to the basket, but there's a time where if I can sacrifice and shoot five three-pointers instead of five attempted layups that could help me play a lot longer.

"I really like that style of play because it's forcing me to take a break and relax from those battles inside because I'm the type of player that is always going at 100. It's kinda helping me realise that it's ok to go at 80 sometimes to preserve your body."

Open to more Australian opportunities

Given the way Moore has played so far this NBL1 season and already winning two Player of the Week honours in just five games, it would be a surprise if WNBL teams aren’t taking notice.

Playing in the WNBL is something that Moore would be more than open to as well both for the high-level basketball she'd get to partake in, but to also enjoy an Australian summer for the first time.

"I would love to see an Aussie summer too since I'm here during the winter and I've always followed the WNBL because I've had friends that have played in it in the past," Moore said.

"My agent right now does have contacts in Australia so this was the first chance I was presented to even play in the NBL1 so you never know if he might be able to reach out to some WNBL teams now too.

"I feel like I've got at least five years left of playing so I wanted this chance to play in Kalgoorlie when it presented and I want to maximise all the things I can do with my professional career in basketball before I get too old.

"And now definitely the more time I spend here, I'd love the chance to get to stay and already even in the NBL1 this is one of the most professional clubs I've played for in regards to living and the situation.

"I've always heard nothing but good things about NBL1 so I wanted to try it, and now that I'm here if I was given the chance to play in the WNBL I would jump at it."