Perth Lynx Preview – Away to UC Capitals (Sunday)
It’s an early Sunday start for the Perth Lynx as they look to keep their impressive form going and end 2024 on a four-game WNBL winning streak when they take on the UC Capitals in Canberra.
The Lynx went into Christmas on the high of a strong home win back on Monday night at the Perth High Performance Centre against Geelong United to remain hot on the heels of the league-leading Bendigo Spirit.
Perth will now put their three-game winning streak on the line when they are back on the road for their last game of 2024 up against the bottom placed UC Capitals at the AIS Arena on Sunday morning Perth time.
The Lynx come into the match up in second position in the WNBL standings with a 9-3 record on the back of last up wins against the Capitals, Spirit and then United.
They come up against a Caps team that might have lost their past five matches to be sitting in bottom place with a 2-9 record, but who are still a dangerous team with the likes of Jade Melbourne, Charli Collier, Chantel Horvat, Nicole Munger and Nyadiew Puoch in the line-up.
The two teams have already played one another twice so far this season with the first meeting also in Canberra. That was a thriller which saw the Lynx prevail 92-90 when co-captain Anneli Maley hit the mid-range jumper just before the buzzer.
The second meeting was at the Bendat Basketball Centre with the Lynx also prevailing 87-63 back on December 12. In that win Miela Sowah had 24 points and seven rebounds, Laeticia Amihere 15 points and 16 boards, Amy Atwell 15 points and two assists, and Ally Wilson 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
That was a start of the current three-match winning streak for the Lynx that has them hot on the heels of Bendigo who are in first place while Canberra is looking to snap a five-match losing run including scoring just 48 points last up on the road to the Townsville Fire.
What Lynx coach Ryan Petrik is happiest about with his team right now is that he knows that on any given night any one of his 10 players could legitimately step up to play key roles depending on the opponents or how the game flow pans out.
“It’s actually really hard to coach because you’re never sure what your best combination is going to be on any night, but that’s a good problem to have,” Petrik said.
“We went to Mac (Clinch Hoycard) against Bendigo and she really helped us change the game and in this game it was Teige who did a really good job.
“We’re never quite sure who’s who on any given night but there’s nine, 10 girls that we really trust right now. They are really good problems to have and the depth has been great.
“There’s always pros and cons with injuries and clearly we would have loved to have Amy early in the season, but that forced us to play other players and they’ve got into a groove now while we’re easing Amy back in. That’s added to our depth.”
Lynx co-captain Atwell has now strung five games together after missing the start to the season with a knee injury and she’s warming up nicely heading into the second half of the campaign.
Atwell had 19 points back on Monday night’s win against Geelong at the Perth High Performance Centre, and she’s feeling better and better the more games she plays this season.
“The biggest issue was just with the loading and coming back in, and being cleared to play after not having a bunch of match fitness so that was definitely something for me,” Atwell said.
“It feels good to be back out there and still improving every day and in every game. It’s nice to kind of get some rhythm back and some wind into the lungs.
“It was always just going to take game reps and training is never quite at the same physicality or intensity as what games are so it was always just going to come back by playing games. These last two I’ve definitely felt better moving out there and it will continue to get better and better.”
CYGNETT WNBL SEASON 2024/25
Round 9 – Perth Lynx v UC Capitals
Venue – AIS Arena, Campbell
Tip-off – Sunday December 29, 9.30am AWST
How to watch – Live, free and on demand on 9Now