Alex Ciabattoni

Alexandra Antonietta Ciabattoni (born 1 June 1994) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Cockburn Cougars of the NBL1 West. She played college basketball for the Newman Jets before beginning her career in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL).

Early life
Ciabattoni was born in Adelaide, South Australia, where she attended Mary MacKillop College and played in the Central ABL for the Southern Tigers (2010–12) and South Adelaide Panthers (2013).

College career
In 2012, Ciabattoni moved to the United States to play college basketball for Newman University. As a freshman in 2012–13, she was named to the All-Heartland Conference First Team and received Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year honours. She averaged team highs in points (13.7) and rebounds (7.8) per game.

As a sophomore at Newman in 2013–14, Ciabattoni was named the Heartland Conference Player of the Year and All-Heartland Conference First Team. She averaged a league-best 20.3 points and shot a league-best 59.5 percent (sixth highest total in the NCAA). She was also named to the Heartland Conference All-Tournament Team.

In June 2014, Ciabattoni left Newman and signed a Grant-in-Aid offer from Stetson. Due to NCAA transfer regulations, she was forced to redshirt the 2014–15 season. While she was unable to play for Stetson, she did earn Atlantic Sun All-Academic Team honors for the 2014–15 season.

Professional career
While back in Adelaide during the 2015 off-season, Ciabattoni decided to try out for the Adelaide Lightning, a team scrambling for players in the wake of the club's near off-season dissolution. As a result, she did not return to Stetson for the 2015–16 season; instead, she signed with the Lightning in August 2015 and went on to win the WNBL Rookie of the Year Award. Ciabattoni averaged 4.6 points per game at 46 per cent and 2.4 rebounds.

Following her rookie season in the WNBL, Ciabattoni joined the Albury Wodonga Bandits for the 2016 SEABL season. In 22 games for the Bandits, she averaged 12.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

In June 2016, Ciabattoni re-signed with the Adelaide Lightning for the 2016–17 WNBL season.

In March 2017, Ciabattoni joined the Hobart Chargers for the 2017 SEABL season. She was rushed into the squad as a replacement for American Cassie Cooke, who was ruled out for the season with a knee injury. After originally signing with the Melbourne Tigers, Ciabattoni felt it wasn't the right fit and ended up landing in Hobart.

On 1 August 2017, Ciabattoni signed with the Perth Lynx for the 2017–18 WNBL season. Following the WNBL season, she joined the Kalamunda Eastern Suns for the 2018 WSBL season.

Ciabattoni split the 2018–19 season in Italy, starting with Reyer Venezia before being loaned to Ponzano Basket Veneto in February 2019. She joined the Rockingham Flames in June 2019 for the rest of the WSBL season and helped the team win the championship.

For the 2019–20 season, Ciabattoni returned to Reyer Venezia. In November 2019, she left Reyer and joined rival team Treofan Battipaglia for the rest of the season.

Ciabattoni returned to the Perth Lynx for the 2020 WNBL Hub season and then returned to the Rockingham Flames for the 2021 NBL1 West season.

In June 2021, Ciabattoni re-signed with the Lynx for the 2021–22 WNBL season. In May 2022, she joined the South West Slammers for the 2022 NBL1 West season.

In December 2022, Ciabattoni was appointed head coach of the Slammers for the 2023 NBL1 West season. She also made multiple appearances as a player.

On 26 June 2023, Ciabattoni signed with the Perth Lynx for the 2023–24 WNBL season, returning to the team for a third stint. Key to her return was her leadership, basketball smarts, and being a quality ball handler and defender.

Ciabattoni joined the Cockburn Cougars for the 2024 NBL1 West season. On 12 July, she had a triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in a 131–78 win over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns. She was named to the All-NBL1 West First Team.

Personal life
Ciabattoni holds an Italian passport.

She gave birth to her first child in January 2023. As of December 2023, she is engaged to former basketball player James Goodlad.