Round 11 Preview: UC Capitals make first trip to Bendigo
Fresh off their home win over the Perth Lynx, the UC Capitals are backing up for their second game of Round 11 as they travel to Bendigo to take on the Spirit.
It’s the first time the two sides have met this season and just one win separates the two teams on the WNBL ladder.
Caps Head Coach, Kristen Veal, says it will be an interesting match up and in their first hit-out, one element will be most important.
“The thing with a young group, and a pretty new group to the league, is every time we front up against a new team, there has to be a high level of trust,” she said.
“That’s what we’re going to ask from them this weekend, is that high level of trust, scout in the personnel and the trust in what we have to do.
“We know that in game 2 or 3 against a team, we show remarkable improvement against them so this one has to be that execution of that trust.”
In their first home game of 2024, the Caps had standout performances from their co-captains with Alex Sharp posting a season high 25 points, 19 rebounds and 3 assists, while the always energized Jade Melbourne recorded 24 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists.
After narrowly missing the finals series last season the Spirit re-signed the majority of their core group, keeping Australian 3×3 representative Alex Wilson and former Caps Kelsey Griffin, Kelly Wilson, Abbey Wehrung, and Alicia Froling.
Griffin missed Bendigo’s first few matches with injury but has since come back to lead her team in scoring, averaging 15 points per game.
For the first time since the 2019-20 season, the Spirit welcomed imports into their ranks with American guard, Mehryn Kraker, and Canadian, Ruth Davis, joining the side to help fill the void left by Anneli Maley.
In their first game of Round 11, the Spirit put on a dominant performance to secure a 28-point win over the Adelaide Lightning, pushing the South Australians to the bottom of the WNBL ladder.
Wehrung was the standout contributor for Bendigo as she posted a season high 18 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist in just 22 minutes.
You can catch the Caps in action from 3:30pm on 9Now.