Round 11 preview: UC Capitals host Lynx at home
The UC Capitals are gearing up for their first home game of 2024 when they make their return to the National Convention Centre against the Perth Lynx.
The Caps form has never been better this season having won three of their last four games – with the only loss in over a month being to the Lynx.
Their latest win came in the previous round in a dominate upset over top four side the Southside Flyers.
Caps forward, Gemma Potter, recorded her best performances of the season in that game and says the team has turned a corner in recent weeks which has helped bring them into their good form.
“We’ve been able to practice some of our deficits within training and then keep building on those week to week. There is not too many mental lapses so we’ve been able to stay focused and finish up games,” Gemma said.
It was a true team affair in the Caps last match up against the Lynx, with five Canberra players posting points in the double figures.
Jade Melbourne was the top scorer with 25 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds to cement herself as the WNBL’s leading scorer and sits in second for average assists per game.
Alex Sharp was also heavily involved in the scoring against her former club, contributing a double-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.
Perth have been without star import Aari McDonald after she went down with a mild tear in her knee in the game against the Caps and isn’t set to return until early February.
In her absence, several Lynx players have stepped up to carry the scoring with Anneli Maley, Amy Atwell, Miela Goodchild and Emily Potter all emerging as players to look out for.
The team from the west are most recently coming off a 16-point win over the Adelaide Lightning to keep them in third place on the ladder.
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Caps center, Alex Bunton, was absent from the trip to Perth but has since returned from injury to add even more to the team’s firepower. She had an impactful first game back against the Flyers, contributing 8 points and 6 rebounds on limited minutes.
After spending the last few rounds on the road, the Caps are excited to be back in front of their home crowd where they recorded their first two wins of the season. However, neither match was at the NCCC and the Caps are eager to put a change to that.
“We always want to get the win in front of our fans because they’re the ones that stick with us through the wins and the losses. We have a family within the Canberra crowd so it’s pretty cool when we get to come back here and hopefully the NCCC is a good sell out so we can get the Caps another win,” Gemma said.
Fans can expect the game against Perth to have the same mix of enjoyment and seriousness the Caps have carried all year but with an added focus within the team.
“You can expect it to be fun as always, we’ll keep having fun with it you’ll see us smiling on the court and having a joke with each other but then comes the locking down – we know we have a job to do and we know we can do it,” Gemma said.
Tip off at the NCCC is at 7pm make sure to grab your tickets here. For fans that can’t make sure to tune in on 9Now!