Round 5 Wrap

November 11, 2019 | WNBL news

The UC Caps have their mojo back according to young gun Keely Froling.

The reigning champs pushed their season record to 5-2 on the back of a sparkling Round 5 with wins over the Flyers and Boomers in Melbourne.

It’s a stark contrast to the Capitals last double which featured a pair of dismal defeats to Melbourne and Sydney.

Froling, who is averaging 16 points and 7 rebounds to start the season, says her team is back on track in #WNBL20.

“We went in obviously wanting to win both games, we had a really good game plan this week. The last double we had was a horrid weekend so we were stoked how this turned out,’’ she said.

“We had a really good plan and we went in wanting to win, knowing if we executed our game plan and followed the scout that we’d be right in there with them. We started so well, it’s definitely the best we’ve played this season. To get that momentum going through the whole game it finally felt like things were working for us which was nice.”

Following a 107-72 thrashing from Melbourne in Geelong back in Round 3, a sharp focus was put on a vastly improved performance at the State Basketball Centre.

“We weren’t happy with how that went and said it was going to happen again. We knew we weren’t going to blow them out of the water but if we were there at the end, we know we finish games pretty well, so to grind that out was a really good win for us,’’ Froling said.

With coach Paul Gorris and Marianna Tolo away with the Opals this week, it’s back to business for the Caps who will train, rest and ready themselves for a trip to Perth in Round 6.

UC Capitals 91 defeated Southside Flyers 72

Canberra etched itself into WNBL folklore as the first side to beat the Southside Flyers.

The Caps arrived in Melbourne determined for a 2-0 weekend and ticked off the first leg by playing some stunning basketball at Dandenong Stadium

Kia Nurse (21 points) set the tone for Canberra, Froling (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Kelsey Griffin (14 points, 13 rebounds) posted double-doubles, Tolo teamed her 16 points with 7 boards and Olivia Epoupa (15 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds) looks more at home in the WNBL with each game she plays.

The loss marked Southside’s third game in a gruelling five days stretch of their campaign.

Coming up against her former championship side for the first time, Leilani Mitchell was the stand out for Southside with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Sydney Uni Flames 82 defeated Townsville Fire 73

The Flames needed a spread of contributors this round and that’s what they got on the way to their second victory of the season.

Alice Kunek (22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists,) and Jessica Kuster (17 points, 6 rebounds) again top scored but it was the likes of Alex Wilson (16 points), Talia Tupea (12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists) and Colleen Planeta (11 points, 6 rebounds) who stepped up their respective roles and it paid dividends.

The result sees Sydney move to 2-5 after five rounds with Townsville bottom-of-the-ladder with just the one victory.

Darcee Garbin (19 points, 7 rebounds) and Abby Bishop (14 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds) again had big performances for the Fire.

Adelaide Lightning 105 defeated Bendigo Spirit 77

Disappointed with their performance, and loss, to the Spirit the previous round, the Lightning struck on their home court with a simply dominant display.

Adelaide shot at 51 per cent, an almighty improvement on last week’s 33, and conjured a complete team performance in front of a healthy home crowd and audience on Fox Sports.

Brianna Turner (22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block) produced some big plays and highlighted why she’s on early MVP pace. Steph Talbot (18 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds) looks like a new player back in her home state, Lauren Nicholson and Chelsea Brook both shot 16 points and Nicole Seekamp (10 points, 9 assists) showed again why she’s Adelaide’s general.

Carly Ernst (17 points, 6 rebounds), Shyla Heal (16 points) and Kelly Wilson (16 points) were shining lights for the Spirit who have now lost their past two games.

UC Capitals 79 defeated Melbourne Boomers 76

The Caps were hellbent on revenge and atoned for their Round 3 thumping by grinding out a big away win over the Boomers.

Again, Canberra started strongly but as expected Melbourne came booming back into the contest to take the lead at half time.

The experienced heads of Nurse (22 points), Griffin (18 points, 9 rebounds) and Tolo (18 points, 5 rebounds) guided the visitors home in a thriller, while it was the imports, Lindsay Allen and Sophie Cunningham, who topped the Boomers stat sheet with 18 points each.

Perth Lynx 93 defeated Sydney Uni Flames 74

With a point to prove, Perth responded to three consecutive overtime defeats by fanning the Flames in style.

The Lynx were led superbly by the in-form Katie-Rae Ebzery who collected 28 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in just under 28 minutes court time. Lauren Mansfield (13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) was also influential, while the contributions of Alison Schwagmeyer-Belger (10 points, 9 rebounds), Nadeen Payne (10 points) and Marena Whittle (10 points) ensured an even team performance.

Planeta (23 points, 8 rebounds) and Kunek (14 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds) were the only Sydney players to score in double digits out west.