Round 8 Preview: UC Capitals vs Townsville Fire
The UC Capitals continue their road trip into Round 8, heading north to the Townsville Entertainment Centre to take on the Townsville Fire on Saturday 21 December.
The UC Capitals spent the previous round going from state to state, timezone to timezone, playing two games in a three-day period. They started off with a tough loss to the Perth Lynx in Western Australia 87-63 before heading to their most recent hit out against the Adeliade Lighting at the 36ers Arena.
The game went down to the wire in a thrilling contest that could have gone either way, with both teams coming in with a game plan to shut down each other’s offense. Adeliade made full use of their home court advantage, taking an early lead in the 2nd that drove the Caps out of the competition early. The Caps, however had different ideas taking the game back into contention late into the 3rd Quarter. With the clock winding down the Caps were unable to get the shot off to give them the lead taking tough 68-67 loss.
Capitals powerhouse Charli Collier (27pts,22reb,0ast) had an out of this world performance, hitting a double-double and getting the nod for the WNBL player of the week, whilst Nyadiew Puoch (15pts,3reb,1ast) followed Charli’s lead in creating that points production. Jade Melbourne (5pts,7reb,8ast) and Chantel Horvat (9pts,9reb,1ast) where shutdown heavily requiring them to play a more support role, pushing for rebounds and assists. This however has resulted in Melbourne reaching the top of average assist on the WNBL stat boards of 6.4.
Heading into Saturday’s competition the Caps, although off the back of some tough losses are on a slight front foot. Their last hit out with the Townsville Fire was an 81-80 win at the AIS back in Round 4, giving the team an idea of who to watch out for. Following on from that game Townsville has kept their season alive with some tough wins, sitting In the middle of the ladder on 4 wins.
Their most recent bout was against the undefeated Bendigo Spirit last week, falling short 86-80 giving an indication that the Capitals will need that spark found at the AIS in round 4 to beat them at home. Scoring specialist Courtney Wood (17pts,12reb,5ast) has been Townsville biggest asset throughout the season, with UC needing to beat her on those 1% efforts. Defensive specialist Lauren Cox (7pts,6reb,3ast) has also created some waves in the league, finding a point scoring ability that could be trouble on the weekend. Import Zia Cooke has mutually agreed to part ways with the Townsville Fire this week, a huge loss for the team.
The Capitals will need to keep their foot on the accelerator for their third road game in a row, and with a small advantage going into Townsville it could be exactly what the Caps need to get another win on the board. Townsville however will be looking to lock them out of a push on the ladder, hoping that the home advantage can give them the upper hand.
The Capitals take on the Townsville Fire on Saturday the 21st of December at the Townsville Entertainment Centre with tip-off at 7pm AEDT. Get your tickets here.