Perth Lynx Preview – Away to UC Capitals
The Perth Lynx will look to continue their early season WNBL momentum on the road on Thursday night when taking on the UC Capitals in Canberra.
The Lynx started the 2024/25 WNBL season with three games in a week and it got underway with an impressive home victory against the Southside Flyers before a narrow loss to the Townsville Fire and then an emphatic win on the road to the Adelaide Lightning.
That was a gruelling initiation to the new season and now having been home in Perth for a few days, the Lynx have got back on the plane to head to Canberra to take on the Capitals on Thursday night at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Arena.
There has been a lot to like about what the Lynx have produced over the opening three matches especially when considering they have been without co-captain Amy Atwell who is fresh off both playing in the WNBA playoffs and for the Australian Opals at Paris 2024.
Fellow co-captain Anneli Maley is producing 17.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists over those three games while Miela Sowah is putting up 16.7 points with some impressive shooting, and Ally Wilson 14.3 points, 5.3 assists and 5.0 rebounds.
Alex Ciabattoni is also delivering 9.7 points, 4.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds while new import Laeticia Amihere is finding her feet nicely with 18.0 points and 4.0 rebounds over the past two games against Townsville and Adelaide.
The Lynx will now be looking to make three wins from four games to start the new season and to also continue their impressive recent form against the Capitals.
On the back of making it nine consecutive wins against the Lightning with the victory in Adelaide on Saturday, the Lynx now take on the Caps having won eight of the previous 10 meetings between the two teams.
One of those was a shock loss in Canberra last season with the Lynx ending up reaching the Grand Final while the Capitals won only three others matches the whole campaign to end up with the wooden spoon.
Those eight wins for the Lynx in the past 10 meetings have come at an average of 18.4 points.
Perth arrives in Canberra to take on a decidedly new look Capitals team for this season who have started off with a 17-point road defeat against the Sydney Flames and then a 23-point loss at home last Friday against the Bendigo Spirit.
Capitals coach Paul Goriss is looking forward to another home game for his team this Thursday night and while he can see early season progress, he knows the Lynx pose another significant test.
“I still think we’ve got the best fans in the league and now we’ve got one of the best arenas in the league to play in, and now we just have to put it together and give the fans a win,” Goriss said.
“Our mantra is that we’ve got to continue to get better at the basic things that we need to be able to do well every game to be able to be competitive, and win games and it’s a learning process for all of us. But we’ve got to learn really quickly because this is a good league.
“It will be another big crowd in for Thursday night and we obviously have to try and come off the short turnaround, and I think we’re slowly building in the right direction of where we need to be.”
CYGNETT WNBL SEASON 2024/25
Round 3 – Perth Lynx v UC Capitals
Venue – AIS Arena
Tip-off – Thursday November 14, 3.30pm AWST
How to watch – Live, free and on demand on 9Now